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KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Everything went splendidly for the United States in its Olympic qualifying match against Cuba until the final minutes, when Marc Pelosi went down in a collision and clutched his shin. For a moment, coach Andi Herzog feared the talented midfielder had broken his leg again. It turned out the budding San Jose Earthquakes star merely sustained a deep gash, one that should not keep him out too long. Good thing for the Americans, whose 6-1 victory over a depleted Cuba squad Saturday guaranteed them a spot in the CONCACAF semifinals. "This was important," Herzog said. "What we said in the meeting and in the locker room before we went to the field, we wanted to set the tone right from the beginning and the boys did." As for Pelosi, who missed more than a year after breaking his leg in 2013: "I was really worried something happened again," Herzog said. "It hurts but it's not bad." Cameron Carter-Vickers, Matt Miazga and Jerome Kieswetter scored in the first half for the U.S., which beat Canada on Thursday night to open the eight-team tournament. Kieswetter added his second goal early in the second half, and Emerson Hyndman and Alonso Hernandez also scored. Daniel Luis scored in second-half stoppage time for Cuba. The Americans play their final group stage match against Panama, which lost 3-1 to Canada, on Tuesday night in Colorado. Cuba faces Canada in the other doubleheader match. The top two teams from each group advance to the semifinals, and the two finalists qualify for the Rio Games, something that the U.S. failed to do for the London Olympics four years ago. The winner of the third-place match faces Colombia in a one-game playoff for another berth. "I think we had a very good start against Canada for the first 50 minutes. The team gained a lot of confidence," Herzog said. "Three points is always a good start, to have more confidence and get in rhythm. And today I think we showed we were the better team right from the start." Michael Petrasso, Skylar Thomas and Benjamin Fisk-Routledge scored to send Canada to a 3-1 victory over Panama. Petrasso and Thomas scored in the first half, the second goal coming moments after Panama's Carlos Daniel Small was sent off with a red card. Fisk-Routledge put the game away for Canada with his goal in the 74th minute. Edgar Barcenas scored for Panama. Canada concludes group play against Cuba on Tuesday in Colorado.
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