A steely group of hopeful Olympians looked ready for prime time, and Jordan Morris scored against a Mexican side for the second time in a week.
Morris, Christian Dean and Mario Rodriguez scored goals for the home side as the United States U-23 side scored a 3-0 win over Mexico on Wednesday night in California.
The trio symbolize just how far the U.S. Olympic team has come, with Rodriguez a member of Borussia Monchengladbach, Morris a Stanford University player and Dean a player for the Vancouver Whitecaps.
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Southampton goalkeeper Cody Cropped made a handful of fine saves for the States, including a diving stab at a first minute shot from the Liga MX-heavy Mexican team.
All the goals came after halftime, beginning with Rodriguez’s finish of a play started by Fatai Alashe (San Jose) and Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake):
Ten minutes later, Dean was in perfect position to head home Colorado Rapids playmaker Dillon Serna’s curling left-footed free kick:
And Morris finished things off with this lunging, classy poke of a Shane O’Neill (Colorado) cross:
In an otherwise even game, the U-23s finished off three of their chances and defended well enough to pick up a clean sheet (thanks in large part to Cropper).
The U-23 MNT next comes together for the Toulon Tournament, which runs from May 27-June 7 in Toulon, France. The USA will face France (May 27), Netherlands (May 29), Costa Rica (May 31) and Qatar (June 2).
