SAN LUIS — Christian Pulisic scored twice in the first half, Tim Weah scored a goal in his return to the United States national team after a red card and the Americans beat Jamaica 4-2 on Monday night for an aggregate score of 5-2 in their CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals.
Playing their first competitive matches under coach Mauricio Pochettino, the United States advanced to the semifinals on March 20 in Inglewood, California. The Americans won the first three editions of the tournament.
The United States also qualified for next year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, while Jamaica will have to play a qualifying match.
Pulisic put the United States ahead in the 13th minute after an assist from Weston McKennie beat Jamaican goalkeeper Andre Blake. Pulisic doubled the lead with a pass from McKennie in the 33rd minute. Pulisic’s shot was his 33rd international goal.
Ricardo Pepi, who scored off a pass from Pulisic in the first leg in Kingston on Thursday, increased the lead to 3-0 in the 42nd minute with his 13th goal, a right-footed shot from outside the six-yard box.
Demarai Gray scored the first of his two goals for Jamaica in the 53rd minute and Weah added one more for the United States in the 56th minute.
Gray got his second goal in the 68th minute.
Costa Rica has a 1-0 lead heading into their home game against Panama on Monday night. On Tuesday, Mexico will host Honduras at home to try to reverse the 2-0 lead in the first game, while Canada will be at home with a 1-0 lead against Suriname.
Weah started in place of the injured Johnny Cardoso after completing a two-match suspension for a red card against Panama in the Copa America last summer. That was the only change made by Pochettino since the first game.
Veteran defender Tim Ream captained the U.S. team in his hometown of St. Louis.
Jamaica coach Steve McLaren, a former England coach, informed the media that star Michail Antonio was unavailable because he lost his passport and was unable to obtain a US visa.
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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.
2024-11-19 12:31:00