Sparked by two-goal performances from Chris Albright (Philadelphia, Penn. / Univ. of Virginia) and Nick Garcia (Plano, Texas / Indiana Univ.), as well as the brilliant play of forward Jamar Beasley (Ft. Wayne, Ind. / New England Revolution), the U.S. Men’s U-20 National Team hammered Canada, 5-1, Aug. 7 in CONCACAF U-20 qualifying action. The victory propels the Americans to the top of Group A with one game remaining, versus host Trinidad & Tobago on Sunday. Only the top two teams from the four-team group will advance to the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship scheduled for next April in Nigeria. “I’m very proud of how we came out today and took charge of the game from the beginning,” said U.S. Head Coach Sigi Schmid. “We capitalized on our early chances and by doing that it not only gave us confidence but allowed us to impose our play on Canada.” Indeed the Americans wasted little time in putting the heat on the opposition. The USA’s potent forward line of Albright and Beasley put the Canadian defense on its heels from the kickoff. After 21 minutes, Beasley received a pass at midfield, shook two defenders and played a 30-yard penetrating pass through the Canadian defense. Albright outraced his defender to the ball and charged in on a breakaway before driving a low, right-footer past Canadian ‘keeper Brian Bowes. Five minutes later, Beasley rewarded his own hard work with a solo effort to double the score. The 5-foot-10 speedster forced the Canadian defense to play the ball back to Bowes, whose misplayed clearance rolled right to the foot of Beasley for an easy put-away. Garcia sandwiched a pair of goals five minutes before and after the halftime whistle to give the Americans a comfortable lead; the first off a clever pass from Ryan Futagaki (Fountain Valley, Calif. / UCLA) and the second from the foot of Rusty Pierce (The Woodlands, Texas / UNC-Greensboro), although it was Beasley whose dummy run put the U.S. captain clear to fire home from close range. It was Garcia’s first two-goal game with the U.S. Under-20 team. Canada did pull a goal back after 47 minutes, when Kevin Serpa capitalized on one of the few U.S. defensive lapses. U.S. ‘keeper Tim Howard, who made three saves in the match, was left no chance as Serpa buried his point-blank shot from seven yards. The game was never in doubt and for good measure Beasley and Albright combined once again to close out the scoring on 56 minutes. Beasley charged past three defenders down the right side of the field, looked up and sent a long cross into the area. Albright met the cross with a flashing header from 10 yards to put the Canadians away for good. Canada played the final 21 minutes with just 10 men after Alfredo Valente was shown the red card for a violent tackle. In the evening game, Costa Rica defeated Trinidad & Tobago, 4-0, to earn an equal share of the group lead with the United States. Aug. 7 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. USA 5 Canada 1. Goals: Albright 21, 56, Beasley 26, N. Garcia 41, 50; Serpa 47. USA —Howard, Cherundolo, Califf (Morrison 76), Bocanegra, Garcia, Pierce, Downing, Goldsmith, Futagaki, Albright (Tennyson 64), Beasley (DaSilva 60). Canada —Bowes, Parker, Cameron, Braz, Pozniac (Humphrey 51), Hughes, Stewart, Bernier, Defaveri (Sulentic 78), Serpa (Fraser 72), Valente.
Group Standings
| TEAM | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | P |
| USA | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| Costa Rica | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 |
| Canada | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 3 |
| Tri. & Tob. | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 0 |