The US national team sealed first place in League A, Group A of the Concacaf Nations League with a slightly underwhelming 4-0 defeat of Cuba in the Cayman Islands on Tuesday night. T
Gregg Berhalter's boys lacked energy for large portions of the proceedings, but still made light work of an easy foe thanks to braces from Jordan Morris and Josh Sargent. Either way, they're into the semifinals of the Concacaf Nations League against Honduras.
United States Player Ratings
Starting XI:
Brad Guzan (6.5) — The veteran backstop came up with a couple of solid saves, including one on a tricky deflected shot that wrong-footed him slightly in the first half.
DeAndre Yedlin (5) — The Newcastle right back helped the Nats drive to the final third plenty of times, especially early, but played inaccurately once they got there. Regardless of how he performs in the EPL, Yedlin will find himself chasing green youngsters if he can't snap a string of flat US outings.
Aaron Long (6) — The Red Bulls defender was tested so little at the back, his grade mostly came down to a few contributions on offensive restarts.
Tim Ream (7) — The skipper was by far the most active US player at halting Cuba advances and at moving the ball positively out of the back.
Daniel Lovitz (6) — While the new Nashville SC left back did well leading Morris into attack and served some dangerous corner kicks, he also had a couple of hiccups in defense.
Jackson Yueill (5.5) — The San Jose midfielder had his moments knocking the ball around Cuba's end, but was a lot less firm defensively than he was against Canada on Friday.
Cristian Roldan (6.5) — As one of the few Nats intent on making overload runs, Roldan did his best to liven up the attack. He was also robbed on a diving bullet header.
Weston McKennie (6) — For the second game in a row, McKennie adequately found the game in central park. Even with an assist to his credit, though, he fell short of offering enough cutting edge to shine bright.
Paul Arriola (5) — After darting down the right to help set up Sargent's quick opener, Arriola was largely ineffective the rest of the night. To boot, most of his restart deliveries were weak.
Jordan Morris (8) — The in-form Seattle flank ace was easily the best player on the field, making two goals and some tempting crosses look like child's play.
Josh Sargent (7) — The Werder Bremen forward applied a fatal doorstep touch in the opening minute, but was all but invisible the rest of the first half. Sargent markedly picked up the pace after intermission, and was rewarded with a second goal.
Coach Gregg Berhalter (6) — The boss went with a very straightforward game plan against a clearly overmatched opponent. The result was the expected run-of-play dominance and a bare minimum margin of victory.
Subs:
Tyler Boyd (5.5) — It was rather disappointing to see the Besiktas winger be so lackadaisical in attack, but he somewhat rescued his grade with a nifty leaping backheel assist.
Reggie Cannon (6) — Although his defensive work was less than stellar, Cannon should have been credited with a second assist for the excellent cross that led to Sargent's second.
Alfredo Morales (7) — If not for a pair of outstanding saves by the Cuba netminder, Morales could have made it three US players with a brace. It was a strong all-around 21-minute shift for the Fortuna Düsseldorf man.
