USMNT labors to 3-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago in Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal opener

AUSTIN, Texas — By now, many U.S. men’s soccer team fans have learned what many players have long known: games against Concacaf opponents are more often ugly than pretty.

So it was again Thursday night in the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals, which double as qualifying for next year’s Copa América. An American squad with two big injury absences but still plenty of firepower beat Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 in the first game of the series, but all three goals came in the last 10 minutes.

Ricardo Pepi broke through in the 82nd minute, Antonee Robinson delivered the second five minutes later, and Gio Reyna provided polish in the 89th. That gives the U.S. an aggregate-scoring cushion heading down to Trinidad for Monday’s series finale (7 p.m., TNT, Universo, Max, Peacock).

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Knowing that the Soca Warriors would bunker defensively, U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter experimented with an attacker-filled 4-2-2-2 formation instead of the usual 4-3-3.

Kevin Paredes, normally a winger or outside back, started in the forward pairing with usual striker Folarin Balogun. Malik Tillman and Gio Reyna lined up behind them in intriguingly free attacking roles, and Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah were the backstops.

The defense was more traditional: Antonee Robinson, captain Tim Ream, Cameron-Carter Vickers, and Sergiño Dest from left to right, with Matt Turner in net.

Trinidad’s game strategy was certainly no surprise. As soon as Reyna gave the kickoff pass to Balogun, all 11 Soca Warriors retreated behind the ball in a 5-4-1 setup, and did their best to stay there.

In the first half-hour, the U.S. out-passed Trinidad 226-57 and out-shot them 5-0, but none of the shots were on target. Paredes wasn’t really getting through as a forward, and Tillman wasn’t doing all that much to break the opposing defense opened.

Brenden Aaronson, who watched from the bench, might have brought a different spark to Tillman’s spot on the field. He, brother Paxten, Pepi, and Alejandro Zendejas were the backup attacking options.

A potential spark arrived in the 38th when Trinidad midfielder Noah Powder earned his second yellow card of the night. The northern New Jersey-born journeyman of MLS and lower leagues was booked first in the 18th, and while that one was soft, this one wasn’t. So off he went.

But the U.S. couldn’t take advantage, as Trinidad backed up further and goalkeeper Denzil Smith made some gritty stops.

Tillman finally produced his team’s first shot on target in the 53rd with a header at Smith. Two more followed suddenly, then in the 57th Musah forced Smith into a full-stretch dive with a long-range blast.

It looked like the breakthrough would come in the 60th, when Daniel Phillips felled McKennie from behind in the box. Jamaican referee Oshane Nation quickly blew his whistle, but was then summoned to the replay monitor. Phillips got some of the ball with a lot of McKennie. Nation reversed his call, to the annoyance of the 19,850 fans in the stands.

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So the U.S. labored on. Berhalter finally made two substitutions in the 66th, sending in Brenden Aaronson and Pepi for Tillman and Paredes. They raised the pace.

Still, though, there was no goal. Not even when Smith hesitated near the goal line in the 78th with Pepi and Balogun right in front of him, but recovered to grab a shockingly loose ball. The shots were 17-0 to the U.S. at that point, for the record.

Pepi finally delivered by redirecting Robinson’s cross from the left wing. Robinson’s goal was a 20-yard blast, and Reyna’s came on a pretty surge up the middle.