CAYMAN Islands, Cayman.- Win and you’re in. That’s the situation for the United States against Cuba when the teams close out Concacaf Nations League Group A play of League A with a contest at the Truman Boded Sports Complex in George Town, Cayman Islands.
The U.S. needed two wins in this window and already has achieved half its task with a 4-1 victory over Canada on Friday. Gyasi Zardes was on the mark twice in that match, with Head Coach Gregg Berhalter’s squad bouncing back from a 2-0 reverse in Canada with a convincing win.
Now they’ll need to get another victory, against a Cuba team yet to get off the mark in Nations League.
The U.S. topped Cuba 7-0 in the teams’ meeting last month, but group rival Canada learned things can be different when you have to travel to play Cuba - with Canada winning by only one goal after a similar scoreline in the first meeting between the teams.
Cuba goalkeeper Sandy Sanchez is a consistent presence in net with midfielders Luis Paradela and Rolando Abreu playing well in recent contests and Maikel Reyes a threat to score up top.
Cuba knows it is going down to League B and will have to play more matches to make it to the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup, but it would love to play spoiler against a U.S. squad eager to show it is progressing in the right direction.