Kyle Nakazawa scored in the first minute, but that was all the scoring for the U.S. under-17 national team, which had to settle for a 1-1 tie in their second match in Group A of the CONCACAF U-17 Qualifying Tournament
The surprising draw drops the U.S. into second place in Group A with four points behind Costa Rica, which leads the group with six points after defeating El Salvador 2-1 in the second match of the doubleheader in Heredia.
''The bottom line is we didnÆt play well,'' U.S. U-17 national head coach John Hackworth said. ''We got an early goal and sometimes the natural inclination is to drop back and defend and that was the wrong thing to do. It just got worse for us from there.''
The 1-1 tie with Cuba left the Americans needing to beat host Costa Rica Sunday and advance to this year's Under-17 World Cup. If the Americans finish second, they would face the second-place team from the other CONCACAF group in a playoff.
April 14 in Heredia
USA 1 Cuba 1. Goals: Nakazawa 1; Hernandez 65.
USA — Rueckner, Alston, Sarkodie, Lichaj, Igwe, Nakazawa, Besagno, Borja (Hall, 73), Arvizu (Ababio, 75), Zimmerman, Soroka (O.Gonzalez, 39).
Cuba — Selles, Montes, Lopez, Suarez, Y.Martinez (Villa, 76), Villegas, Gomez (Bernal, 85), Hernandez, Trejo, Torres, Guerra (D.Gonzalez, 64).
Referee: Rolando Vidal (Panama).