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The USA men’s U-20 squad is expected to win its group at the 2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, and the team’s first two games have offered no challenge to that expectation. A 7-1 win over Puerto Rico was followed by a 13-0 victory over the US Virgin Islands, putting the young Americans at the top of Group A with six points and a +19 goal difference.
Trinidad and Tobago also has maximum points from its opening two games of the tournament, but the Soca Warriors have not been quite as convincing as their American group-mates. T&T required two goals in stoppage time to sneak past St Vincent and the Grenadines, 3-2; Puerto Rico was handled a little more easily, ultimately beaten 5-1.
In principle, this USA-T&T match-up is the pivotal game of the group, pitting the top seeded Americans against the second-seeded Trinidadians. But the USA will enjoy home advantage (all games are being played at the IMG Academy in Florida) and the benefit of a steady program that regularly brings players together for training camps and friendlies throughout the year. T&T, however, put its squad for this tournament together mere days before the opening game.
Heading into a presumptive mismatch in terms of squad chemistry and fitness, T&T head coach Russell Latapy has embraced the underdog role and said his team will “go out there and make a game of it”.
All things considered, this game should not be expected to rise to the level of the senior Soca Warriors’ epic cancellation of USMNT’s 2018 World Cup dream in Couva last October. If this Trinidad U-20 squad gets anywhere close to a victory over a much better prepared USA opponent, it will be an upset several times the magnitude of that achieved by the T&T men’s team in 2017.
Per livesoccertv.com, here’s where to find the game if watching from the USA: