Bulls Abroad: Matt Miazga and US U-20s edge closer to U-20 World Cup with 1-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago in CONCACAF U-20 Championship

Matt Miazga and the US U-20s took another step toward this summer's U-20 World Cup in New Zealand with a 1-0 winover Trinidad and Tobago in the final round of group stage games in the CONCACAF U-20 Championship.

Neither team achieved any great fluidity over 90 minutes, each hampered by a playing surface that has now hosted six triple-headers since January 10. Still, the US had more and better possession, but struggled to make it count in the final third - a repeated feature of Tab Ramos's side's play in this tournament. On the other side of the ball, Trinidad and Tobago couldn't make limited but significant chances count.

The tie suited the US (who would only have been knocked out of the competition by a loss in this match), and as time ticked away, so T&T was forced to seek a winning goal ever more urgently. Ramos threw on fresh legs for the last 30 minutes, and was rewarded by a 78th minute counter-attack that ended with the ball in T&T's net and gave the US all it required for safe passage to the knockout round of the tournament.

RBNY's Miazga went 90 minutes in tandem with center back partner Cameron Carter-Vickers, a pairing that will be disappointed not to be given the chance to represent the USA in New Zealand.

But first, qualification must be secured - and that will require one more win: on Janaury 24, most likely against El Salvador or Cuba, possibly against Honduras, or, if some very improbable things happen, against Guatemala.