USA 2, Latvia 0

The socca world will not soon forget Scott Crandall. The Small Goal Soccer man from Arizona notched two goals in the first three minutes of the United States’ Round of 16 match against Latvia at the ISF Socca6 World Cup Friday morning, and Team USA would ride them to a 2-0 victory.

Taking the pitch just 12 hours after defeating England in the group stage, the Americans pressured Latvia heavily from the opening whistle. Mo Salama (Sporting AZ FC) had earned a corner and registered two shots with barely 30 seconds gone.

The Latvia goalkeeper took the ensuing goal kick short to a defender who was immediately pressured by Crandall’s favorite strike partner, Tony Cascio (Sporting AZ FC). The defender quickly passed back to the goalkeeper, but Crandall intercepted and blasted the ball into the net for the 1-0 lead on 44 seconds.

Just two minutes later, Crandall drove through traffic and played a nifty give and go to Cascio. Crandall received his return pass at point-blank range and fired under a sliding defender for his second goal of the match, and third of the tournament.

Latvia would get their chances, but rarely got close enough to test goalkeeper Andrew Weber (Sporting AZ FC).

The United States next face Germany at 2 p.m. EDT, 11 a.m. PDT, Friday, September 28 in the Quarterfinals.