Sporting Kansas City forward Tyler Freeman started and played 64 minutes on Monday as the United States U-17 Men’s National Team finished atop Group F of the 2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship with a 3-0 victory over Guatemala on Monday at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
The win concludes a perfect group stage campaign for the Americans—who defeated Canada 3-2 on Thursday before ousting Barbados 6-1 on Saturday—and sets up a Round of 16 date with Guadeloupe on Thursday as the knockout rounds get underway.
Freeman and the USA dominated from start to finish on Monday and landed the first punch in the 25th minute when Griffin Yow bagged his first of two goals on the night. Yow doubled his tally six minutes into the second half and Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez rounded out the scoring on 86 minutes.
Freeman’s Sporting Kansas City teammate and fellow 16-year-old Gianluca Busio, who notched three goals across the USA’s first two games, was an unused substitute against a Guatemala side that mustered just one shot on target.
Busio, Freeman and the USA will now prepare for the Concacaf U-17 Championship’s single-elimination knockout rounds. Head coach Raphael Wicky’s men must reach the tournament semifinals in order to secure a berth to the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup as one of Concacaf’s four representatives.
Thursday’s Round of 16 clash versus Guadeloupe will kick off at 5 p.m. CT, streaming live in English on the Concacaf Facebook page and airing live in Spanish on Univision Deportes.
