Brooks Lennon scored one goal and set up another during the USA’s second-half barrage. (Jay Biggerstaff/USA TODAY Sports)
INCHEON, Korea — The United States struck for five goals in the second half en route to a 6-0 round of New Zealand in the Round of 16 of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup Thursday.
The Americans will meet Venezuela in the quarterfinals Sunday.
Josh Sargent had given the U.S. a 1-0 halftime lead before the Red, White and Blue went on its second-half rampage before a crowd of 5,667.
Brooks Lennon, Jeremy Ebobisee, Justen Glad, Auston Trusty and Lagos Kunga tallied in the second half.
The quarterfinals will match a pair of young defensive midfielders from from the metropolitan area — the Red Bulls’ Tyler Adams of the USA and New York City FC’s Yangel Herrera, the captain of Venezuela.
The USA’s fifth knockout-round victory in U-20 World Cup history saw head coach Tab Ramos’ side advance to the quarterfinals against Venezuela at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju Sunday (2 a.m. ET on FS2, FOX Sports Go and Telemundo En Vivo).
The U.S. put its mark on the game early with Sargent and midfielder Eryk Williamson challenging goalkeeper Michael Woud with two headed attempts inside the opening 13 minutes. The Americans broke through in the 32nd minute, when Lennon’s low corner kick from the left fell for Glad, whose attempt made its way through traffic before deflecting off Sargent and past Woud.
With his fourth goal of the tournament, Sargent tied Taylor Twellman (1999), Eddie Johnson (2003) and Jozy Altidore (2007) for most goals scored by a U.S. player at the U-20 World Cup. The goal also puts Sargent back into a tie with Venezuela’s Sergio Cordova for the tournament’s Golden Boot lead.
The U.S. put the game out of reach in the second half with a two-goal outburst in two minutes.
In the 64th minute, Ebobisse took down a header from Sargent before blasting a shot past Woud, while a minute later, Williamson’s feed down the right gave Lennon a clear path to goal to give the U.S. a 3-0 lead.
Glad wrote his name on the scoresheet in the 76th minute when he rose to head home Lennon’s corner kick from the right.
Two substitutes put an exclamation point on the U.S. win as Trusty blasted home a Sebastian Saucedo – the USA’s third sub tallied – a corner kick in the 84th minute and Kunga capped the scoring in second-half stoppage time.
The 6-0 win also tied the USA’s record for largest margin of victory at the U-20 World Cup. The U-20 MNT also earned a 6-0 win against Turkey in its opening match of the 1993 edition in Australia.
In a unique doubleheader, the U.S. Under-20s will take on Venezuela only hours after the two nations’ senior national teams face off in a friendly at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA – Josh Sargent (Justen Glad) 32th minute
USA – Jeremy Ebobisse (Josh Sargent) 64
USA – Brooks Lennon (Eryk Williamson) 65
USA – Justen Glad (Brooks Lennon) 76
USA – Auston Trusty (Sebastian Saucedo) 84
USA – Lagos Kunga (Luca de la Torre) 90+3
Lineups:
USA: 1-Jonathan Klinsmann; 3-Danny Acosta (2-Auston Trusty, 76), 5-Erik Palmer-Brown (capt.), 4-Tommy Redding, 6-Justen Glad; 20-Luca de la Torre, 8-Tyler Adams, 7-Eryk Williamson, 15-Jeremy Ebobisse (11-Sebastian Saucedo, 79); 19-Josh Sargent, 17-Brooks Lennon (13-Lagos Kunga, 79)
Subs not used: 9-Emmanuel Sabbi, 12-James Marcinkowski, 21-Brady Scott
Not available: 10-Gedion Zelalem, 14-Aaron Herrera, 16-Cameron Carter-Vickers, 18-Derrick Jones,
Head coach: Tab Ramos
NZL: 1-Michael Woud; 3-Sean Liddicoat, 5-Hunter Ashworth (18-Sapreet Singh, 65), 6-Joe Bell (16-Callum McCowatt, 82), 8-Moses Dyer (capt.), 9-Noah Billingsley (11-Henry Cameron, 53), 13-James McGarry, 14-Jack-Henry Sinclair, 15-Reese Cox, 17-Logan Rogerson, 19-Myer Bevan,
Subs not used: 2-Dane Ingham, 4-Luke Johnson, 7-Connor Probert, 12-Cameron Brown, 20-Lucas Imrie, 21-Conor Tracey
Not available: 10-Clayton Lewis
Head coach: Darren Bazeley
Stats Summary: USA / NZL
Shots: 19 / 6
Shots on Goal: 10 / 0
Saves: 0 / 4
Corner Kicks: 10 / 2
Fouls: 9 / 10
Offside: 0 / 3
Misconduct Summary:
NZL – Henry Cameron (caution) 80th minute
Officials:
Referee: Abdulrahman Al Jassim (QAT)
Assistant Referee 1: Taleb Al Marri (QAT)
Assistant Referee 2: Saoud Ahmed Almaqaleh (QAT)
Fourth Official: Ryuji Sato (JPN)
ussoccer.com Man of the Match: Brooks Lennon
