US beat Costa Rica in friendly match

Washington: 18-year-old Uly Llanez converted a penalty in his national team debut to help the US claim a 1-0 victory against Costa Rica in a friendly match. The US men’s team trailed a new lineup, as a total of seven players made their debut in the match and the average age of the starting 11 was just 23 years old.

Llanez’s winning goal came in the 50th minute but aside from the goal, Llanez had a perfect debut. He started the match on the left-wing and was constantly getting up and down the flanks and into dangerous positions on Saturday, reports Xinhua news agency.

“Llanez plays with confidence and I think you saw even in the beginning of the game, you didn’t see nerves, he’s going one on one at guys, he’s getting into good spaces, he’s running all the time. A really good combination of things he did in the game,” said US coach Gregg Berhalter.

The US team’s next match will be another friendly against the Netherlands on March 26.IANS

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