The United States men's national team made history before and after their 7-1 win over Grenada in the CONCACAF Nations League - and Wayne Rooney and David Beckham will have taken note of the line-up.
Ricardo Pepi opened the scoring inside four minutes before Leeds United players Brenden Aaronson and Weston McKennie, who is on loan from Juventus, plus Chelsea's Christian Pulisic, also struck before the 50th-minute mark. Pepi completed a brace soon after, and Alejandro Zendejas added a seventh to complete the rout in Saint George's.
Scoring seven goals away from home is something the national team had not done before and was just one goal shy of the record-setting eight put past fellow Caribbean island nation Barbados in 2008. And that was the second history-setting feat of the night.
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The matchday squad interim head coach Anthony Hudson named was the first to not feature a single player from a Major League Soccer club since the league launched in 1996, highlighting the talent coming out of the States.
The XI featured individuals currently playing in Belgium (full-backs Bryan Reynolds and Mark McKenzie), England (Matt Turner, Auston Trusty, McKennie, Aaronson and Pulisic), Germany (Joe Scally and Gio Reyna), the Netherlands (Pepi) and Spain (Luca de la Torre). It was the same story on the substitute's bench.
This feat showcases the country's academy system. Nine who started the match began their careers at Stateside clubs, De la Torre and Pulisic the only exceptions. Seven also played professionally in MLS before attracting interest from Europe, with McKennie and Reyna poached by German clubs before being able to play first-team football.
Former United greats Rooney and Beckham are invested in Stateside affairs as manager of DC United and co-owner of Inter Miami. And the duo, along with Miami boss Phil Neville, will know first hand the homegrown talent available to them and the prospect of selling players to leading European leagues.
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