The U.S. National Team wraps up its opening pair of 2018 World Cup Qualifiers vs. Trinidad & Tobago on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. ET (beIN SPORTS). After yielding an early goal to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in St. Louis on Friday night, the U.S. stormed back with six unanswered goals, including a brace from Toronto FC’s Jozy Altidore and a tally from LA Galaxy’s Gyasi Zardes. With the team riding a 5-1 lead in the 64th minute, Jurgen Klinsmann officially capped Portland Timbers midfielder Darlington Nagbe and New York Red Bulls homegrown defender Matt Miazga. The pair both logged 26 minutes in their smile-filled debuts. Sporting KC’s Matt Besler, Toronto FC’s Michael Bradley, and the New England Revolution’s Jermaine Jones started the match and played all 90 minutes.
Tuesday’s match marks a much tougher test for the USA on its road to Russia. Trinidad & Tobago, ranked 54th in FIFA’s World Ranking, reached the quarterfinals of this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, where it fell to Panama in a dramatic round of penalty kicks. The Soca Warriors also topped Mexico in the Gold Cup group stage and defeated Guatemala, 2-1, on Friday. Trinidad’s squad features four MLS players including Cordell Cato (San Jose Earthquakes), Daneil Cyrus (Chicago Fire), Joevin Jones (Chicago Fire) and Kevan George (Columbus Crew SC), and has the advantage of hosting the match at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain. Cyrus and Jones both went the full 90 for T&T on Friday, while George saw 28 minutes off the bench.
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