Grenada received one of its heaviest loss in a football game at the National Stadium at Queen’s Park in St George’s when the United States (U.S.) defeated the home team 7-1 in front of an almost full venue in the CONCACAF Nations League.
The Spice Boys went behind as early as the 4th minute when playmaker, Christian Pulisic who dominated the left side of the field, crossed the ball into the penalty area to Ricardo Pepi who headed the ball easily pass goalkeeper, Jason Belfon.
The U.S went 2-0 up in the 20th minute of play when Pulisic, who was creating problems for the home team with his pace, was able to make a pass into the penalty area again for Brenden Aaronson to drive his shot past a helpless Belfon.
Eleven minutes later, the visitors went 3-0 from a Pulisic free kick on the left flank which created all sorts of problems for the Grenada defense and when the ball deflected from one of its defenders, it fell onto the feet of Weston McKennie and found the back of the net.
Against the run of play, Grenada was able to pull a goal back minutes later when Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong made a run on the right side of the U.S. defence and found Myles Hippolyte who delivered a shot with power past the American goalkeeper, Matt Turner.
One minute later, the US team extended the lead again to make it 4-1 and to shut out the home team from the game when its best player on the field Pulisic was able to stand just outside the penalty box and put the ball in the area of the far post, where Auston Trusty rose up and headed the ball down to McKennie, who once again was able to score the goal from just a few feet away.
With the U.S. enjoying a comfortable 4-1 lead at halftime, the local support was drowned out by the hundreds of American medical students at St George’s University (SGU) at True Blue in the south of the island who showed up at the stadium to support their country.
Both Governor General Dame Cecile La Grenade and Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell and members of his Cabinet were also in attendance at the game.
Within four minutes of the resumption of play, the U.S. continued its dominance when Pulisic scored after he received a pass from Luca de la Torre and put the ball underneath Belfon and onto the goal line.
The goal deflated the home team and it was not surprising when the Americans notched up their 6th goal on the night when a De la Torre pass found Pepi in the penalty area and he slid the ball pass Belfon.
Alejandro Zendejas brought further misery for Grenada in the 72nd minute of play when he found the back of net from a few metres away from the goal post.
The U.S., with seven points from two victories and one draw, is set to win Group D of the tournament’s League A with a win or a tie on Monday against El Salvador (5 points) in Orlando, Florida.
The winners from each of the four groups advance to the semi-finals on June 15 in Las Vegas.
Grenada is not expected to advance any further in the competition due to this heavy loss at home.
The Nations League is used to determine the top teams in CONCACAF while also serving as a qualifier for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.