Different day, same result.
The US Under-17 men's national team defeated Canada 4-0 on Tuesday in the semifinals of the Concacaf Championship.
NYCFC academy center back Tayvon Gray intercepted a pass that reached Sporting Kansas City's Gianluca Busio 40 yards from goal. A one-touch square pass put the ball at D.C. United midfielder Bryang Kayo's feet, who dribbled through the Canadian defense and finished low in the far corner to give his team the lead in the 47th minute.
Gio Reyna added his sixth of the tournament 17 minutes later, bending a free kick past Benjamin Collins of the Montreal Impact. The goal puts him one behind Costa Rica's Geancarlo Castro for the tournament's Golden Boot.
North Texas SC striker Ricardo Pepi added his second of the tournament in the 78th minute after Busio stripped Canada's Tommy Giraldo in the midfield. Pepi was left 1v1 with Collins and eventually slotted the ball into the back of the net. Pepi added his second of the match four minutes later, benefitting from a Busio assist again as the Sporting playmaker tackled Simon Colyn off the ball and played a throughball to Pepi.
Tuesday's match was the second between the two nations at the Concacaf U-17 Championship. The first came during the group stage — when each team played their first match of the tournament — as the US came back from being down 2-0 to win 3-2.
The US will face off against Mexico — and LA Galaxy midfielder Efrain Alvarez — in the final on Thursday, where they will be hoping to win the U-17 Championship for the first time since 2011. Mexico beat the US in the final two years ago, when the match went into a penalty-kick shootout.
Goals
- 47' — USA — Bryang Kayo
- 64' — USA — Gio Reyna
- 78' — USA — Ricardo Pepi
- 82' — USA — Ricardo Pepi
Lineups
USA: GK: Chirturu Odunze (Vancouver Whitecaps FC); Mauricio Cuevas (LA Galaxy), Tayvon Gray (NYCFC), Kobe Hernandez-Foster (LA Galaxy), John Tolkin (New York Red Bulls); Gio Reyna, Danny Leyva (Seattle Sounders), Bryang Kayo (D.C. United), Gilbert Fuentes (San Jose Earthquakes); Gianluca Busio (Sporting Kansas City); Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas)
Substitutes:
- 62' — Adam Armour for John Tolkin
- 77' — Adam Saldana (LA Galaxy) for Bryang Kayo
- 83' — Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (Seattle Sounders) for Ricardo Pepi
CANADA: GK: Benjamin Collins (Montreal Impact); David Amla (Montreal Impact), Nathan Demian (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Maxime Bourgeois (Montreal Impact), Keesean Ferdinand (Montreal Impact); Kamron Habibullah (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Tommy Giraldo (Montreal Impact), Simon Colyn (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Matthew Catavolo (Montreal Impact); Jacen Russell-Rowe (Toronto FC), Jamie Dunning
Substitutes:
- 51' — Jeremie Omeonga (Montreal Impact) for Jamie Dunning
- 51' — Jayden Nelson (Toronto FC) for Jacen Russell-Rowe
- 63' — Rohan Goulbourne (Toronto FC) for David Amla
