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New York Red Bulls attacking midfielder Sacha Kljestan once again secured his spot on the United States men's national team after putting in 73 minutes to help defeat Trinidad & Tobago, 4-0 in Jacksonville. The US sputtered a bit in the first half, but after a double-post effort by Christian Pulisic in the 33rd minute, they started to apply steady pressure.
The US broke through in the 44th minute after a failed clearance rebounded off Kljestan. The RBNY man toe poked the ball to the bottom right corner, once it fell right to his feet.
Sacha Kljestan has made the most out of that late call-up to the #USMNT's World Cup qualifiers... #USAvTRI https://t.co/euiFNsejze
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) September 7, 2016
It was the only goal in the first half, but the US wouldn't be finished there.
Even though Kljestan wouldn't find his way into the box score again, his key passes contributed to both the third and fourth goals for the US. He was substituted out for national team newcomer, Caleb Stanko in the 73rd minute.
The win against T&T moved them into the C1 position of World Cup Qualifying for CONCACAF. The next round, commonly known as the Hex, will pit the US and Mexico together right out of the gate on November 11th. It will be interesting to see where US Soccer chooses to put this game. Much of the US has cool climates by November. They may elect for such sites as Columbus or Denver, so temperatures could be in the 40s or 50s. The last five home matches against Mexico have ended "Dos A Cero" (2-0).
The US's next games are both friendlies in the month of October. First, they travel for the first time ever to Cuba on October 7th. Then, they follow that up with a game in DC against New Zealand on October 11th. The Hex starts in November.
The Red Bulls' next game is this Sunday September 11th against D.C. United.