U.S. U-17 boys trounce Portugal, 7-1

• by Mike Woitalla  @MikeWoitalla, Dec 1, 2016

Missouri product Josh Sargent  hit a hat trick as the U.S. U-17 boys national team opened the Nike Friendlies with a 7-1 win over Portugal.

Coach John Hackworth’s team opened the scoring in the 8th minute with an Andrew Carleton penalty kick. The Atlanta United Homegrown signing scored again in the 37th minute and set up Ayo Akinola’s 63rd-minute goal.

Eleven of the USA’s 15 shots were on frame while Portugal had eight shots, forcing five saves from U.S. keeper Justin Garces.

Toronto FC’s Akinola scored in the 63rd minute and 15-year-old Bryan Reynolds Jr., who became FC Dallas’ youngest Homegrown signing last week, rounded the scoring in stoppage time.

The last time they met, in Mexico City in August at the Torneo de Naciones, the USA and Portugal tied, 3-3.

The win puts the USA in first-place of the four-team round robin competition with a better goal difference than Brazil, a 4-2 winner over Turkey, the USA’s next opponent on Friday.

Nov. 30 in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
USA 7 Portugal 1. Goals: Carleton (pen.) 8, Sargent (Akinola) 19, Carleton (Acosta) 37, Sargent (Ferri, 55), Akinola (Carleton) 63, Sargent 82, McGann (Reynolds Jr.) 92+; Embalo (Kone) 23.
USA -- Garces; Lindsey, Sands, Vasquez, Gloster; Ferri (McGann, 75), Durkin (Asensio, 83), Acosta (Angking, 75); Akinola (Reynolds Jr., 67), Sargent (Dest, 83), Carleton (Weah, 67).
Portugal -- Monteiro; Kone (Ferreira, 60), Loureiro (Fernandes, 60), Djalo, Monteiro Oliveira; Baro, Afonso Sousa, Bernardo Sousa (Jocu, 60); Embalo (Neto, 66), Rodrigues (Campos, 60), Camacho (Conceicao, 66).
Referee: Farhad Dadkho (USA).

Full game VIDEO

Nov. 30 in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
Brazil 4 Turkey 2. Goals: Alan Souza (Vinicius Jr.) 11, Lincoln Correa (Alan Souza) 17, Vinicius Jr. (Vitinho) 69, Vinicius Jr. (Vitinho) 94+; Karnuçu (Babacan) 54, Babacan (pen.) 72.
Brazil -- Gabriel Brazão, Wesley Andrade, Vitor Eduardo, Matheus Stockl, Gustavo Henrique, Kazu (Kevin Kesley 59), Paul Henrique, Vitinho, Lincoln Correa (Luan Pereira 59), Alan Souza (Denilson Rodrigues 69), Vinicius Jr.
Turkey -- Oruç, Gökcimen, Saraçolu (Gül 46), Kabak, Kesegin, Öncel, Babacan, Görmez, Akgün (Karnuçu 46), Akgün, Civelek. Referee: Victor Rivas (USA).

U.S. U-17 boys national team
GOALKEEPERS (2): Carlos Joaquim Dos Santos (Benfica/POR), Justin Garces (Kendall SC).
DEFENDERS (7): Carlos Asensio (Atlanta United FC academy), Sergino Dest (Ajax/NED), Christopher Gloster (New York Red Bulls academy), Jaylin Lindsey (Sporting KC academy), Carlos Ritaccio (BW Gottschee), James Sands (New York City FC academy), Arturo Vasquez (FC Golden State).
MIDFIELDERS (6): George Acosta (Weston FC), Isaac Angking (New England Revolution academy), Christopher Durkin (D.C. United), *Blaine Ferri (Solar Chelsea SC), *Rayshaun McGann (Philadelphia Union academy), Indiana Vassilev (IMG Academy)
FORWARDS (5): Ayomide Akinola (Toronto FC academy), Andrew Carleton (Atlanta United FC), Bryan Reynolds Jr. (FC Dallas), Joshua Sargent (SLSG Missouri) Timothy Weah (Paris St. Germain/FRA).