USMNT dominates Trinidad and Tobago to begin Gold Cup as Malik Tillman scores first 2 international goals

The United States men’s nationalist soccer squad made rather the connection to statesman their CONCACAF Gold Cup radical play connected Sunday by dominating Trinidad and Tobago, 5-0, astatine PayPal Park successful San Jose, California. 

All the speech starring into the Gold Cup was astir Christian Pulisic, the USMNT prima who defended his reasoning for abstaining from playing successful the Gold Cup pursuing his twelvemonth with AC Milan. Former players and fans alike were calling retired Pulisic, and it was surely detracting from the roster acceptable to play connected Sunday. 

This team, though, intelligibly wasn’t listening to the extracurricular sound arsenic they got close down to concern against "T&T" to footwear disconnected their Group D schedule. 

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USA guardant Malik Tillman reacts to scoring a extremity successful the archetypal fractional during a radical signifier lucifer of the 2025 Gold Cup astatine PayPal Park successful San Jose, Calif. (Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images)

It was Malik Tillman, the 23-year-old who plays for the Netherlands’ PSV Eindhoven successful the Eredivisie league, getting the USMNT connected the scoreboard with his archetypal vocation planetary extremity successful the 16th minute. 

Jack McGlynn made it hap arsenic helium was diligent wrong T&T’s 18-yard box, slipping past a defender and lifting a cheeky walk to Tillman, who buried it for the opening extremity of the tournament. 

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But Tillman wasn’t done successful the archetypal half. He started to sprint erstwhile Diego Luna took vantage of a mediocre walk backmost from a T&T defender, providing enactment if Luna wanted to pass. That’s precisely what helium did erstwhile Tillman got separation, and helium made it 2-0.

The USMNT wasn’t done successful the archetypal fractional arsenic Patrick Agyemang deflected a changeable from Luna conscionable 3 minutes aft Tillman’s 2nd goal. The T&T keeper had nary accidental arsenic helium dove the different absorption with the shot crossing the extremity line. 

Midfielder Brenden Aaronson and Team USA observe aft scoring the 4th extremity of the game. (Robert Edwards-Imagn Images)

With a 3-0 pb aft the archetypal half, the USMNT didn’t conscionable spell into cruise control. It was Brenden Aaronson successful the 82nd infinitesimal going to his close ft and keeping his changeable debased past the T&T keeper to marque it 4-0. 

Then Haji Wright joined the scoring enactment with a perfectly placed changeable to the close broadside of the nett conscionable 3 minutes aft Aaronson. 

It was rather the connection for this USMNT radical little than 1 twelvemonth retired from the FIFA World Cup, which volition beryllium held successful the United States arsenic good arsenic Canada and Mexico. 

USA guardant Malik Tillman (17) celebrates scoring the archetypal extremity of the crippled during the archetypal half. (Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images)

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Their adjacent radical signifier crippled volition beryllium connected June 19 against Saudi Arabia, which took down Haiti, 1-0, connected Sunday to triumph their opening Gold Cup lucifer arsenic well. 

Both the USMNT and Saudi Arabia person 3 points successful the group. 

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