San Jose Earthquakes academy alum JT Marcinkowski and the U.S. U-20 National Team defeated longtime rival Mexico 1-0 Monday afternoon in Costa Rica in the 2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship’s classification stage. The win handed El Tri their first loss in the tournament since 2009 and set the U.S. atop of Group D heading into Friday’s bout against El Salvador.
Marcinkowski last started for the U.S. in a 4-1 win against St. Kitts and Nevis on Feb. 24. The Alamo native was recently with the U-20’s for January Camp from Jan. 15-23 in Carson Calif. Prior to his last call-up, the South Bay native was one of three goalkeepers that traveled to Costa Rica for training camp and a pair of friendlies against the host nation this past December.
According to ussoccer.com, the U.S. can advance to the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Korea Republic should Mexico either draw or lose against El Salvador on Wednesday. If Mexico wins, the U-20 MNT can punch their ticket to both the World Cup and Sunday’s CONCACAF U-20 Championship match with a draw or win against El Salvador when the two sides meet in the Group D Classification Stage finale on Friday (6:30 p.m. ET; UDN, Facebook Live).
