In his first international match in more than 10 months, Landon Donovan made the most of his return by scoring his 50th and 51st career international goals as the U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Guatemala 6-0 in an international friendly at Qualcomm Stadium. The game served as the team’s final tune-up before kicking off the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
In addition to Donovan’s penalty kick tally in the 55th minute and his 72nd-minute volley finish, Chris Wondolowski and Alejandro Bedoya each notched their first international goals. Herculez Gomez, who scored the first goal of the match, and Clarence Goodson also contributed scores during the rout, which featured five goals in the second half.
It was the USA’s most lopsided win since an 8-0 victory against Barbados on June 15, 2008. The U.S. extended its unbeaten streak against Guatemala to 20 games (14-0-6) and is 14-4-6 all-time against Guatemala.
The U.S. begins Group C play in the CONCACAF Gold Cup against Belize on Tuesday, July 9, at JELD-WEN Field in Portland, Ore. Kickoff is at 8 p.m. PT, with a live broadcast on FOX Soccer. Fans can also follow the action on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker and through Twitter @ussoccer.
The U.S. has won five straight matches for the first time since 2011-12, when the Americans capped off 2011 with a 3-2 win against Slovenia on Nov. 15, and then won the first four matches of 2012. The last time the U.S. won five straight in a calendar year was a six-game winning streak in 2008, with every match taking place in 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying.
Gomez gave the U.S. a well-deserved 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute as the USA capitalized on a major advantage in ball possession throughout the half. Jose Torres lofted the ball into the box towards Joe Corona, but his lunge just missed the cross, allowing the ball to skip to Gomez at the far post. He was all alone and hit a first-time blast from close range past Guatemala goalkeeper Ricardo Jerez Jr. It was the sixth career goal for Gomez and the first career assist for Torres.
The goals came in bunches for the U.S. in the second half with Donovan leading the surge. He drew a penalty kick about 10 minutes after the break after he was shoved to the ground by Guatemala’s Carlos Castrillo. Donovan took the penalty and drove it straight up the middle as Jerez dove to his right.
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