A sumptuous hat-trick from Landon Donovan and one apiece courtesy Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones helped USA thrash Scotland 5-1 in a friendly soccer match at the EverBank Field in Jacksonville.
The US dominated from start to finish as Scotland found the hosts' attacking play impossible to stop. Donovan started off the scoring in the third minute before adding to his tally in the 60th and 65th minutes. Bradley and Jones netted in the 11th and 70th minutes respectively. A lacklustre Scotland got their consolation through an own goal by Geoff Cameron.
"I'm very pleased with how things went tonight," US coach Jurgen Klinsmann said after the match which saw nearly 55,000 people in attendance. "It was a wonderful start with two early goals. I think we set the tone.
"Tonight, you saw the main elements of what we're always talking about. What we are trying to develop is a fast-paced game. There's tempo in it. There's one-touch combinations throughout midfield, as fast as possible, finding forwards up there, having pace, build-up from the back, no long balls," Klinsmann said following his fifth straight win.
"I think we saw some of those elements today. Obviously it's a bit more difficult to play that way against Brazil or Italy, but I think the players, they understand more and more what we're trying to achieve."
Donovan said the win was an important step towards qualifying for the World Cup in 2014.
"We're glad we could put on a good performance," Donovan said. "It's just one game, we understand that, but it's an important step forward towards the ultimate goal, which is qualifying for Brazil 2014."
Klinsmann was impressed by youngster Terrence Boyd's performance. "I think Terrence is one of our promising talents that we are trying to develop. So we have to bring players like Terrence along and help them whenever we can and give them their space to show what they can do."
