U17s Earn Spot in World Cup

Americans Down Canada, 4-2

April 24, 2009

TIJUANA, Mexico – The U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team defeated Canada 4-2 on Thursday to earn a place in the semifinals of the CONCACAF U-17 Championship and one of the region’s four berths to the U-17 World Cup.

The U.S. has a chance to clinch the top spot in Group A with a win or a tie against Honduras on Saturday, April 25.

"We succeeded in qualifying based on the results of the two games and we have played well, both individually and as a team," said Cabrera. "We are the first qualified team but we want to get to the final of this tournament.

“We will continue to work and we have an important game against Honduras that is the game that will decide who will be first in the group. Honduras is going to be playing to qualify, therefore it should be a very intense game."

Jack McInerney once again took control of the offense, netting two more goals to take his tally to four in two games, a tournament high. McInerney’s first goal was a penalty kick in just the second minute and the forward added a highlight-reel goal in the 30th minute to help the U.S. to a 2-0 lead. The U.S. took a 3-0 halftime lead on Sebastian Lletget’s second goal of the tournament and rounded out the scoring with a second-half goal from substitute Joseph Gyau.

Canada, who drew Honduras 1-1 in its opening game, is still alive in the tournament, needing a win against Cuba on Saturday and a U.S. win against Honduras to have a chance of advancing to Nigeria. Cuba, who lost 6-0 to Honduras this afternoon, was mathematically eliminated from contention.

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