Morris brace lifts US past Martinique 3-2 in Gold Cup
TAMPA, Florida: Jordan Morris put the US back on track in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Morris’ second goal of the game broke a tie in the 76th minute, and the US edged tiny Martinique 3-2 Wednesday night after wasting a two-goal lead against a team that is not even a member of FIFA.
That hardly mattered to Jordan and his teammates, though, who rebounded from a disappointing 1-1 tie against Panama in their tournament opener last weekend.
“It’s all about team, all about the three points,” Morris said after the Americans improved to 31-1-4 during the Gold Cup group stage.
Martinique “made it very tough for us,” Morris added. “It was a battle all night.”
Failing to break through in the first half, the US built a 2-0 lead on goals by Omar Gonzalez in the 53rd minute and Morris in the 64th.
But Martinique, a French overseas department, tied the score on a pair of goals by Kevin Parsemain in the 66th and 74th minutes. The first was a shot from the edge of the arc that took a bounce and went in off goalkeeper Brad Guzan’s left arm. The second was a shot by Johan Audel that hit a leg of Parsemain, who was down on the field, and deflected in over Guzan, who had stopped Parsemain’s initial attempt.
Morris got his fourth international goal just 98 seconds later. He spotted Gyasi Zardes streaking in on the left side, and Zardes laid the ball back for the 22-year-old forward, who scored with a right-footed shot from just past the penalty spot.
“They didn’t stop running, didn’t stop playing,” Gonzalez said. “We need to be smarter, more focused throughout the entire game.”
The US, which opened last weekend with a 1-1 tie against Panama, completes group play Saturday in Cleveland against Nicaragua, which lost to Panama 2-1 earlier Wednesday.
“We’re certainly guilty of making the game a lot more difficult on us than it needed to be,” said US coach Bruce Arena, who thought his team played well.
The Americans improved 5-0-5 since Arena returned for a second stint as national team coach, replacing Jurgen Klinsmann.
Using a mostly junior varsity lineup in the tournament, the US leads Group B with four points, ahead of Panama on goal difference. Martinique is third with three, followed by Nicaragua with none. The top two teams in each of the three groups advance to the quarterfinals along with the two best third-place teams.
“I saw a lot of good performances out of some of our players. A lot of positives there,” Arena said. “One of the things we’re trying to do in this tournament is really look at some players in our pool that we haven’t seen much of and help us make some decisions for qualifying in September and October.”