Morris scores twice to help U.S. men down Cuba
Josh Sargent scored the first of his two goals 34 seconds in, Jordan Morris also had two goals, and the United States routed Cuba 4-0 at George Town, Cayman Islands, on Tuesday night to reach the semifinals of the first CONCACAF Nations League.
The U.S. finished 3-1 in Group A along with Canada and earned first place because of a better goal difference, plus-12 to plus-six. Cuba was last in the group at 0-4 and was outscored 18-0.
The U.S. likely will play Honduras in the Nations League semifinals in June, with Mexico meeting Costa Rica.
Trying to rebound from its failure to qualify from the 2018 World Cup, the U.S. finished Gregg Berhalter’s first year as coach with 11 wins, five losses and two draws, a record that included a 1-0 defeat to Mexico in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final. The Americans ended an 11-match road winless streak (six losses, five draws) dating to a 2-0 win at Havana in an October 2016 friendly.
Qualifying for the 2022 World Cup starts in September. The U.S. will be joined in the six-nation hexagonal by Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica and most likely Canada or El Salvador, and the top three will earn berths at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Recovered from a torn right anterior cruciate ligament that sidelined him for most of 2018, the 25-yearold Morris scored in the 26th and 39th minutes. He had five goals and six assists in 14 games for the U.S. this year. U.S. goalkeeper Brad Guzan earned his 20th shutout.
Last month in Washington, D.C., Weston McKennie scored 32 seconds in and started the U.S. to a 7-0 rout, the second-fastest U.S. goal after Clint Dempsey’s score at 30 seconds against Ghana at the 2014 World Cup.
The 23rd-ranked U.S. went ahead nearly as quickly in the second match against Cuba despite missing five regulars because of injuries: midfielders Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams and Michael Bradley, goalkeeper Zack Steffen and forward Jozy Altidore.
DeAndre Yedlin took a throw-in that Paul Arriola redirected toward the goal, and Sargent knocked the ball past goalkeeper Sandy Sánchez. The U.S. doubled the lead when Jackson Yueill’s (San Jose Earthquakes) long pass was headed on by McKennie to Morris, the former Stanford player who won an MLS Cup with Seattle earlier this month, who controlled the ball, broke in alone, then slotted in a right-footed shot from 8 yards. MARADONA LEAVES POST AS GIMNASIA COACH >> Diego Maradona has left his position as coach of Argentine side Gimnasia y Esgrima, bringing a premature end to yet another coaching job for the World Cup winner.
“This decision hurt me with all my soul,” Maradona said in a message posted on Instagram.
Maradona lost his first three games in charge and although he has won three of five since then, the team is still third-bottom of the league and in danger of relegation.
TOTTENHAM FIRES MANAGER POCHETTINO >> Less than six months after leading Tottenham to the Champions League final, Mauricio Pochettino was fired by the English club after its poor start to the Premier
League season. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said the board was “extremely reluctant” to take the decision but was doing so “in the club’s best interests.”
Pochettino leaves after 5½ years in the job, during which he transformed the London club into a title contender in the Premier League and the Champions League but never managed to win a trophy.
Tottenham is currently 14th in the league, having only won three of 12 games this campaign. The team has won just six games in the Premier League since February.
British media reported that Tottenham was in negotiations with former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho to take over.
ENRIQUE RETURNS AS SPAIN COACH AFTER DAUGHTER’S DEATH >> Luis Enrique is returning as Spain coach five months after stepping down because of his daughter’s illness.
He is taking over from former assistant Robert Moreno, who coached the team through qualifying for the 2020 European Championship. His last match was on Monday, a 5-0 rout of Romania in Madrid.
Luis Enrique’s 9-yearold daughter, Xana, died of a type of bone cancer less than three months ago. COUTINHO HELPS BRAZIL BEAT SOUTH KOREA, END WINLESS RUN >> Philippe Coutinho scored one goal and helped set up another as Brazil beat South Korea 3-0 in a friendly in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates,
to give the five-time world champion its first win in six games.
Coutinho started the move that gave Brazil the lead in the ninth minute at the Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium. The Bayern Munich midfielder found Renan Lodi, whose cross was headed home by Lucas Paqueta for his second international goal.
Coutinho then curled home a free kick before the break to double Brazil’s lead.
Baseball
STAR JAPANESE PITCHER WANTS TO PLAY IN MLB >> Pitcher Shun Yamaguchi, who led Japan’s Central League in wins, strikeouts and winning percentage this season, says he wants to move to Major League Baseball through the posting system.
The 32-year-old righthander declared his intention this week and becomes the first player from the Yomiuri Giants to pursue a career in the majors through the posting system.
Yamaguchi went 15-4 this season with 188 strikeouts and a .789 winning percentage.
Tennis
AFTER 15 LOSSES, CANADA BEATS US FOR 1ST TIME IN DAVIS CUP >> Canada beat the United States in the Davis Cup for the first time, defeating the Americans 2-0 on the second day of the revamped team competition to end a run of 15 straight losses.
Vasek Pospisil edged Reilly Opelka 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7) and Denis Shapovalov defeated Taylor Fritz 7-6 (6), 6-3 to give the Canadians an insurmountable lead in Group F of the inaugural Davis Cup Finals. It was Canada’s first win in 16 meetings with the United States in the 119-year-old competition, although the teams had not played since 1965. The result leaves the United States needing to beat Italy today to have a chance of advancing to the knockout stage.