USMNT

Jesús Ferreira Bags Four in USMNT's 5-0 Nations League Win Over Grenada

The U.S. started off its CONCACAF Nations League title defense strong with a huge win on Friday

Jesús Ferreira
USA TODAY

You might need to start calling him Jesús Fourreira now.

Jesús Ferreira had a record night in the USMNT’s dominant 5-0 win against Grenada in the CONCACAF Nations League on Friday.

He opened the bank account in the 43rd minute after a Paul Arriola cross was deflected and went right to him. The 21-year-old forward flipped the ball to his left foot and finished despite facing a tough angle:

Then in the opening minutes of the second half, Ferreira struck again. After receiving a through ball that sliced through the middle of Grenada’s defense, Ferreira was one-on-one with the goalie and slotted it to the left corner:

Ferreira bagged his hat-trick just about two minutes later. The U.S. ran a set-piece play from a corner kick that saw Kellyn Acosta deliver the corner as a pass to Ferreira, who ran up from the edge of the penalty box and laced it to the top-right corner with a smooth one-touch finish:

The lead grew to four about six minutes later. This time it was right winger Arriola, who stayed composed after receiving Luca de la Torre’s pass and finished in traffic:

As fatigue started to mount for Grenada, which was coming after spending most of the game defending, Ferreira scored another after Brenden Aaronson slipped him the ball in the 77th minute: 

Prior to this game, Ferreira had just three goals for the national team. He tied a USMNT record with his huge four-goal outing. The U.S. has had a long-term issue with fielding a reliable No. 9, but this performance from Ferreira may be the confidence booster he needs to earn the trust of head coach Gregg Berhalter.

Grenada, the 170th-ranked nation in FIFA, mustered just three shots all game compared to 25 for the 15th-ranked U.S. side. Even though the difference between the two nations was telling, a 5-0 result is a major confidence booster for a young side looking to impress at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar in November. 

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Christian Pulisic and Tyler Adams, two mainstays in the starting XI, did not dress for this game. 

The U.S. next plays El Salvador on Tuesday, June 14 at 7 p.m. PT. El Salvador is currently one point ahead of the Stars and Stripes in Group D in League A due to having one more game played. A win would put the Americans back on top as the nation hopes to defend its 2019-20 title.

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