01.02.2021 03:49 h

Ferreira stars as USA blanks Trinidad & Tobago 7-0

Jesus Ferreira scored two goals and set up three others Sunday to spark the United States over Trinidad & Tobago 7-0 in an international football friendly at Orlando, Florida.

Paul Arriola and Jonathan Lewis also scored two goals each for the Americans, who had three multi-goal scorers in a match for the first time since 1993.

US goalkeeper Matt Turner denied a Soca Warriors penalty shot in the 66th minute in his national team debut.

Ferreira, an FC Dallas striker in only his second USA match, scored his first international goal in the ninth minute and added another in the 62nd in a sparkling close to a US January training camp.

"It's an amazing feeling to be able to score your first goal for the national team," Ferreira said. "A long month we had and it all came together today. We made it happen."

Ferreira also made key passes that led to goals by Lewis in the second minute, his first for the US squad, and by DC United striker Arriola in the 22nd and 41st minutes.

Atlanta United defender Miles Robinson scored in the 52nd minute and Colorado Rapids forward Lewis scored again in the 55th.

The Americans finished just shy of matching their biggest shutout, an 8-0 victory over Barbados in 2008.

Trinidad & Tobago matched the most lopsided defeat in team history, a 7-0 loss to Mexico in 2000.

It was the first match for the Soca Warriors since a November 2019 loss to Honduras and the team's first match under English head coach Terry Fenwick.

The match marked the first time the United States had five or more goals in three consecutive matches and the first time it had three first-time scorers in three matches in a row.

The Americans, who outshot Trinidad & Tobago 19-2, improved to 20-3 with four drawn in the all-time rivalry and remained unbeaten against them on home soil.