REUTERS – The United States recovered from conceding a surprise early goal to crush St Vincent and the Grenadines 6-1 in their CONCACAF region, World Cup fourth round qualifying game in St Louis on Friday.
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The Caribbean side, made up mainly of semi-professional and amateur players, stunned Jurgen Klinsmann’s team in the fifth minute when Oalex Anderson cut in from the left and curled a right foot effort past American keeper Brad Guzan.
The United States were back on level terms six minutes later when Michael Bradley fed DeAndrew Yedlin, whose cross was headed in by striker Bobby Wood to ease the nerves of the 43,433 crowd at the home of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball club.
Wood and Bradley both went close before the Americans took the lead in the 29th minute when a Fabian Johnson free-kick took a big deflection and wrong-footed goalkeeper Winslow McDowall.
Jozy Altidore made it 3-1 in the 32nd minute with a simple header from close-range after he was left unmarked at the back post to convert after Jermaine Jones had flicked on a Johnson corner.
Klinsmann’s team had utterly dominated, with over 83 percent of the first half possession and they made sure of three points from their opening Group C game after the break.
Defender Geoff Cameron looped in a header from another Johnson corner to make it 4-1, six minutes after the re-start.
Gyasi Zardes added the fifth when he was put through by Altidore and beat McDowall with a confident low drive.
Altidore added his second to make it 6-1 in the 74th minute, collecting a pass from Jones, twisting and turning to make space to score with a deflected shot.
Defender Matt Miazga and midfielder Darlington Nagbe were both handed debuts with substitute appearances in the second half.
Guatemala and Trinidad and Tobago, also in Group C, were playing later on Friday.
The top two teams from each of the three groups of four nations will progress to the final round of qualifying.
(Reporting By Simon Evans; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)