Jesús Ferreira notches hat trick as USMNT trounces St. Kitts and Nevis in Gold Cup

ST. LOUIS – The U.S. Men’s National Team rode a hat trick from 2022 FIFA World Cup veteran forward Jesús Ferreira to a convincing 6-0 victory against St. Kitts and Nevis in Concacaf Gold Cup group play Wednesday night in front of 21,216 at CITYPARK in St. Louis.

Midfielder Djordje Mihailovic added two goals and two assists, Bryan Reynolds scored his first career goal on his 22nd birthday and Gianluca Busio chipped in two assists in the USMNT’s first meeting against the Sugar Boyz, the 100th different opponent the team has faced since first playing matches back in 1916.

Ferreira is the fifth USMNT player to record multiple hat tricks, following Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore and Peter Millar. His three goals come a little more than a year since he scored four against Grenada on June 10, 2022 to open 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League play. Now with 11 career goals, the 22-year-old Ferreira is the fastest player to reach double-digit tallies, doing so in 20 caps. The previous best was Clint Mathis, who hit 10 in 23 caps.

The 6-0 score is tied for the USA’s largest margin of victory at the Gold Cup, having previously defeated Cuba in 2015 and Trinidad and Tobago in 2019 by the same mark.

USMNT head coach B.J. Callaghan made seven changes to the lineup that tied Jamaica on Saturday with defender Matt Miazga, midfielder James Sands and forwards Alex Zendejas and Ferreira as the four holdovers.

Early on Mihailovic and Cade Cowell had shots blocked by desperate defenders Malique Roberts and Gerrard Williams, setting the tone for the night. The USA would then score three times in three minutes and 50 seconds – the quickest span for three goals during a competitive match in USMNT history.

Mihailovic got it started in the 12th with a shot from eight yards off a Busio pass from the endline. On his 22nd birthday, Reynolds blistered a bouncing ball from 20 yards out two minutes later for his first international goal off a corner kick from Alex Zendejas. Ferreira made it 3-0 with his first of the night in the 16th on another nice ball from Busio. The FC Dallas forward would have had his hat trick in the first half if not for three outstanding saves by goalkeeper Julani Archibald.

The third one finally came minutes after the break as Mihailovic sprung Ferreira alone at goal from 40 yards out, before the striker calmly slotted the ball through Archibald’s legs to complete his second career hat trick.  Mihailovic closed out the scoring with a calm finish from inside the box with 10 minutes left. Archibald finished the night with nine saves as the USMNT fired off 34 shots to just two from the Kittians.

Now sitting atop Group A with four points and a plus-6 goal differential, the USMNT will close out the group stage against Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday, July 2 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. (7 p.m. ET, FOX and Univision).

GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN

USA – Djordje Mihailovic (Gianluca Busio), 12th minute: The play started on the left side with a throw-in by DeJuan Jones. Jalen Neal, James Sands and Matt Miazga combined before playing it wide right to Bryan Reynolds, who quickly played a ball downfield that Busio caught up to at the endline. He cut back a cross that Mihalilovic hit first-time with his left from eight yards out to open the scoring. USA 1, SKN 0

USA – Bryan Reynolds (Alex Zendejas), 14th minute: Zendejas took a corner from the left and as the curling ball dropped and bounced out of the box, Reynolds stepped forward and met it with a blistering, first-time blast from 20 yards out that went inside the near post for his first international goal. USA 2, SKN 0

USA – Jesús Ferreira (Gianluca Busio), 16th minute: Defender Matt Miazga won the ball and played James Sands, who found Reynolds on the right. Reynolds fed Zendejas, who cut to his left at midfield and advanced to Busio. Busio turned and saw Ferreira make his run, feeding him a nice ball in space. The striker took one touch forward and shot from a tight angle to the back post for his first of the night. USA 3, SKN 0

USA – Jesús Ferreira (Djordje Mihailovic), 25th minute: Cade Cowell won the ball at midfield and played it back to Busio, who turned and played Mihailovic across midfield. Mihailovic first-timed a ball that beat the high defensive live and sprung Ferreira alone at goal from 40 yards. A composed Ferreira put the ball through the legs of the goalkeeper from 20 yards. USA 4, SKN 0

USA – Jesús Ferreira (Djordje Mihailovic), 50th minute: A simple throw-in again started the possession that resulted in a goal, this time from the left side near the defensive end. As it moved right and forward, Alan Soñora played it central before the ball made its way up on the left to Cowell. The 19-year-old winger played a pass into the box to Mihailovic, who pushed it centrally to Ferreira. The World Cup veteran let the ball run across his body to set up his right and complete his second career hat trick. USA 5, SKN 0

USA – Djordje Mihailovic (Cristian Roldan), 79th minute: Attacking down the right, Aidan Morris opened the field with a ball into the box that Roldan brought down and unselfishly played square to Mihailovic, who calmly took a touch before placing a low ball from 16 yards past Archibald. USA 6, SKN 0

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• With an average age of 24 years, 73 days, the Starting XI was the USMNT’s fourth youngest in Gold Cup history.

• The USMNT improves to 39-1-5 all-time in the Gold Cup group stage and 19-0-2 against Caribbean opposition during the first round of the tournament.

• The USA’s first three goals were scored in the span of three minutes and 50 seconds – the fastest span for three goals in a competitive match in USMNT history.

• Jesús Ferreira recorded his second career hat trick, tallying his ninth, 10th and 11th international goals in just his 20th cap to become the fastest USMNT player to hit double-digit goals in terms of appearances. Ferreira bests Clint Mathis, who reached 10 goals in 23 caps.

• Having previously scored four goals in Nations League play on June 10, 2022 against Grenada, Ferreira joins fellow Texan Clint Dempsey as just the second USMNT player to record two hat tricks in competitive matches. Ferreira is also just the fifth player to record multiple hat tricks for the USMNT: Landon Donovan (3), Jozy Altidore (2) Dempsey (2) and Peter Millar (2).

• In his first start since June 26, 2019, Djordje Mihailovic recorded two goals and two assists. Mihailovic’s 12th minute goal was the second of his international career and first since his USMNT debut on Jan. 27, 2019 against Panama. He went on to record his first two international assists on Ferreira’s second and third goals, before tallying his third career goal in the 79th minute.

• With assists on Djordje Mihailovic’s opener and Jesús Ferreira’s second goal, Gianluca Busio (21 years, 31 days) became the second youngest USMNT player to record a multi-assist game in the Gold Cup. He follows Christian Pulisic, who was 20 years, 278 days when he registered two assists against Trinidad and Tobago on June 22, 2019.

• Bryan Reynolds recorded his first international goal on his 22nd birthday. Reynolds follows Earnie Stewart (March 28, 2001 at Honduras) as the second player to score for the USMNT on his birthday. Reynolds is also the 31st USMNT player to celebrate a birthday cap.

• Alex Zendejas registered his first career assist on Reynolds’ goal.

• Substitute Cristian Roldan collected his third career assist on Mihailovic’s 79th minute goal. It was Roldan’s first assist since July 25, 2021 vs. Jamaica in the Gold Cup Quarterfinal.

• Forward Cade Cowell and defender Jalen Neal were the third pair of 19-year-olds to start a Gold Cup match for the USMNT. The duo follows DaMarcus Beasley and Landon Donovan (Jan. 21, 2002 vs. Cuba) and George Bello and Gianluca Busio (July 15, 2021 vs. Martinique).

• At 19 years, 309 days, Neal became the youngest center back to start for the USMNT in 17 editions of the Gold Cup. Neal is also the second-youngest center back to earn a start in official competition for the USMNT, trailing only Mike Windischmann who set the mark at 19 years, 165 days when he started the first of three consecutive World Cup qualifiers on May 19, 1985 against Trinidad and Tobago.

• Midfielder James Sands appeared in his eighth consecutive Gold Cup match, dating back to the 2021 tournament opener against Haiti.

• Starter DeJuan Jones and substitute Julian Gressel both earned their first caps in official competition. Gressel is now also cap-tied to the United States.

• Sean Johnson combined with the back line to earn his seventh career clean sheet. Johnson has conceded just two goals in his international career, contributing to 11 team shutouts in his 13 career appearances.

• This was the first meeting between the USA and St. Kitts and Nevis. The Sugar Boyz are the USMNT’s 100th different international opponent. St. Kitts is the 86th different opponent that the USMNT has defeated.

• The 6-0 score line is tied for the USA’s biggest margin of victory at the Gold Cup. The USA previously defeated Cuba (July 18, 2015) and Trinidad and Tobago (June 22, 2019) by 6-0 score lines.

– U.S. MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT –

Match: U.S. Men’s National Team vs. St. Kitts & Nevis
Date: June 28, 2023
Competition: 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup; Group A
Venue: CITYPARK; St. Louis, Mo.
Attendance: 21,216
Kickoff: 10 p.m. ET (9 p.m. local time)
Weather: 84 degrees; hazy

Scoring Summary:   1          2          F

USA                            4          2          6
SKN                            0          0          0

USA – Djordje Mihailovic (Gianluca Busio)    12^th minute
USA – Bryan Reynolds (Alex Zendejas)        14
USA – Jesús Ferreira (Gianluca Busio)         16
USA – Jesús Ferreira (Djordje Mihailovic)     25
USA – Jesús Ferreira (Djordje Mihailovic)     50
USA – Djordje Mihailovic (Cristian Roldan)   80

Lineups:

USA: 18-Sean Johnson (capt.); 5-Bryan Reynolds (22-Julian Gressel, 76), 4-Matt Miazga, 20-Jalen Neal, 15-DeJuan Jones; 6-Gianluca Busio (7-Alan Soñora, 46), 8-James Sands (16-Aidan Morris, 56), 14-Djordje Mihailovic; 17-Alex Zendejas, 9-Jesús Ferreira (19-Brandon Vazquez, 56), 11-Cade Cowell (10-Cristian Roldan, 68)

Substitutes not used: 1-Matthew Turner, 23-Gabriel Slonina, 2-Deandre Yedlin, 3-Aaron Long, 12-Miles Robinson, 13-Jordan Morris, 21-John Tolkin

Head Coach: B.J. Callaghan

SKN: 18-Julani Archibald (capt.); 2- Malique Roberts, 6- Lois Maynard, 3-Gerard Williams, 5-Jameel Ible (15-Mervin Lewis, 71); 7-Tiquanny Williams (9-Carlos Bertie, 63), 14-Raheem Somersall (8-Yohannes Mitchum, 63), 4-Andre Burley, 11-Tyquan Terrell (21-Omari Sterling-James, 63); 19-Romaine Sawyers, 16-Keithroy Freeman (10-Jacob Hazel, 71)

Substitutes not used: 1-Jamal Jeffers, 23-Xander Parke, 12-Dijhorn Simmonds, 13-Ezrick Nicholls, 17-Rowan Liburd, 20-Raheem Hanley, 22-Ronaldo Belgrove

Head Coach: Austin Huggins

Stats Summary: USA / SKN

Shots: 34 / 2
Shots on Goal: 15 / 0
Saves: 0 / 9
Corner Kicks: 8 / 1
Fouls: 16 / 9
Offside: 3 / 1

Misconduct Summary:

SKN – Tyquan Terrell (Caution)         56^th minute
SKN – Jameel Ible (Caution)              69
SKN – Andre Burley (Caution)           74

Officials:

Referee: Juan Gabriel Calderon (CRC)
AR1: Juan Carlos Mora (CRC)
AR2: Henri Pupiro (NCA)
4th Official: Bryan Lopez (GUA)
VAR: Selvin Brown (HON)
Assistant VAR: Shirley Perello (HON)

Man of the Match: Jesús Ferreira