U17s Win CONCACAF Opener

McInerney's Two Goals Lead Americans Past Cuba

April 23, 2009

TIJUANA, Mexico � The U.S. Under-17 Men�s National Team opened its 2009 CONCACAF U-17 Championship campaign with a 5-0 win against Cuba on Tuesday evening at Estadio Caliente.

Forward Jack McInerney scored twice and added two assists while Luis Gil, Stefan Jerome and Sebastian Lletget each tallied once to put the U.S. atop Group A.

The U.S. will next face Canada on Thursday, April 23. With Canada and Honduras playing to a 1-1 draw in the first game of the night, the U.S. has sole possession of first place in Group A with three points and can clinch a berth to the 2009 FIFA Under-17 World Cup with a victory against Canada.

�At first we were a little hesitant, but as the game went on we took control and created opportunities,� said U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team head coach Wilmer Cabrera. �We took advantage of the opportunities that we had. We were very focused on the game and we had several good training sessions. We had a good victory but we can�t take anything away from Cuba, they were a great opponent and we must keep our heads in the game against Canada and Honduras.�.

The 2009 CONCACAF U-17 Championship will mark the first time since 1996 that a regional champion is crowned. The top two finishers in Group A advance to the semifinals of the tournament and earn half of CONCACAF�s four berths to Nigeria. They will also cross over to play one of the top two teams from Group B, which is made up of Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Trinidad & Tobago. The semifinals will be played on April 29, with the final and third place match played on May 2.

U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team Match Report

Scoring Summary:
USA � Stefan Jerome (Jack McInerney) 31st minute
USA � Jack McInerney (Luis Gil) 34
USA � Sebastian Lletget 40
USA � Jack McInerney (Luis Gil) 48
USA � Luis Gil (Jack McInerney) 63

Lineups:
USA: 1-Earl Edwards; 3-Tyler Polak, 6-Jared Watts, 2-Eriq Zavaleta, 4-Perry Kitchen; 8-Alex Shinksy (15-Carlos Martinez, 64), 5-Marlon Duran, 20-Sebastian Lletget (13-Joseph Gyau, 70), 10-Luis Gil; 7-Stefan Jerome (19-Andrew Craven, 75), 9-Jack McInerney

CUB: 1-Odisnel Cooper (12-Yeimi Guerra, 44); 13-Alejandro Marquez, 15-Yadien Ortiz, 4-Daniel Cantero, 3-Yordan Exposito; 14-Dayron Blanco (16-Ricardo Pena,77), 10-Luis Portal, 5-Liosvel Hernandez, 18-Ovaldo Lemus, 20-Osdany Soto (17-Humberto Ruig, 58)

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