The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)

Dwyer scores in debut for United States

- By Ronald Blum

EAST HARTFORD, CONN. » Dom Dwyer scored in his internatio­nal debut, joining Sydney Leroux to become the first husbandand-wife couple with goals for the United States, and the Americans beat Ghana, 2-1, on July 1 in an exhibition ahead of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

A 26-year-old English forward who gained American citizenshi­p in March, Dwyer put the Americans ahead in the 19th minute with an acrobatic volley.

Brad Guzan saved Asamoah Gyan’s penalty kick in first-half stoppage time, and Kellyn Acosta added his first internatio­nal goal in the 52nd minute on a low free kick from just outside the penalty area that went through the wall and in on a bounce past goalkeeper Richard Ofori.

Gyan scored for the Black Stars in the 60th minute with a free kick that beat Guzan and went in just under the crossbar. Ofori made an outstandin­g stop in the 66th to deny Alejandro Bedoya’s back-post header from Jordan Morris’ cross.

U.S. coach Bruce Arena changed eight starters from his lineup in the June 11 World Cup qualifier at Mexico, retaining only Guzan, Acosta and Paul Arriola. Seven American starters entered with fewer than 10 internatio­nal appearance­s.

There also were debuts for a pair of midfielder­s. Kelyn Rowe started and Kenny Saief, who played twice for Israel before switching his affiliatio­n to the U.S. last month, entered in the 71st. The U.S. improved has four wins and four draws in eight matches since Arena

replaced Jurgen Klinsmann in November. Arena’s first stint as U.S. coach ended after eight years in 2006 when Ghana eliminated the U.S. in the World Cup’s Group stage.

Most Europe-based players are on vacation ahead of preseason training, and Arena chose youth over experience in many instances for his Gold Cup roster, wanting to evaluate the deeper reaches of his player pool. The U.S. opens the Gold Cup against Panama on July 8 at Nashville, Tennessee; then play Martinique on July 12 at Tampa, Florida; and Nicaragua on July 15 at FirstEnerg­y Stadium.

Wearing new uniforms with red and blue horizontal stripes, the Americans played their first exhibition against a team they met in each of the last three World Cups. Ghana eliminated the Americans in 2006 and 2010, and the U.S. beat the Black Stars in its 2014 opener.

Dwyer, who has played for Sporting Kansas City since 2012, has been married since January 2015 to Leroux, a 26-year-old forward who was born in Canada but has 35 goals in 75 internatio­nal appearance­s for the U.S. and was part of the team that won the 2015 World Cup. They are only the fourth husband and wife who both played for the U.S., joining Jim Gabarra and Carin Jennings, Claudio Reyna and Danielle Egan, and Zach Loyd and Casey Nogueira. Egan’s only goal was in 1993, four years before she married Reyna.

“I’m insanely proud of him and so happy for the overall win for the MNT,” Leroux said. “I love the fact that we both came to the USA from other countries and get to chase our dreams together wearing the crest that means so much to us. When he scored, it’s really hard to describe the feeling. Just chills. I know this is only the beginning for him.”

Dwyer and Leroux announced on Valentine’s Day 2015 that they had married a month earlier. She wears No. 2 and he No. 14. Leroux and son Cassius watched the game on television with Becky Sauerbrunn, her Kansas City teammate, and Sauerbrunn posted video of Leroux holding the infant to Twitter, taken in the aftermath of the goal.

 ?? JESSICA HILL — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? United States’ Kellyn Acosta, left, and Matt Hedges, right, pressure Ghana’s Raphael Dwamena, center, during the first half of an internatio­nal friendly on July 1 at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn.
JESSICA HILL — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS United States’ Kellyn Acosta, left, and Matt Hedges, right, pressure Ghana’s Raphael Dwamena, center, during the first half of an internatio­nal friendly on July 1 at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn.

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