da dobrowin： B.J. Callaghan's team ran out 6-0 winners of St Kitts and Nevis as the Roma right-back made his case for further chances going forward

da doce： Fans of the United States men's national team have seen enough of these games to know how to handle them. It's one of the things that happens in CONCACAF: legitimate World Cup teams face legitimate minnows, and it all ends up as a laugher.

That's what we got on Wednesday night in the Gold Cup: a laugher. The U.S. had zero problems with St. Kitts and Nevis, a team playing in their first-ever Gold Cup. After falling 3-0 to Trinidad & Tobago in their opener, the USMNT doubled their misery in a 6-0 win thanks to three goals from Jesus Ferreira, two from Djordje Mihailovic and one more from Bryan Reynolds.

What can we learn from a game like that? Not much. This just isn't a quality of opponent that can teach the U.S. anything. There are no tactical tweaks to take away, no real life-altering performances that will change the trajectory of national team careers. This was, at best, a confidence-building exercise and, at worst, a chance to stat pad.

And pad the U.S. did, but they also did some of the former: confidence building. Several players on the fringes had big games that may not count much to some, but will count plenty to them as this tournament goes on.

With that said, here's a look at the winners, and losers, from the USMNT's win:

GettyWINNER: Djordje Mihailovic

Probably the big winner on the day, even with Ferreira's hat-trick. Mihailovic accounted for four of the USMNT's six goals. Two were his own, both composed finishes, and two were provided for others as the AZ Alkmaar star made sure to spread the love. With his performance, Mihailovic became the seventh USMNT player to contribute to four goals in a single match.

It was a big night for the midfielder, who is very much on the fringes of the A-Team picture. He only joined AZ in January, but you can already see that he's a more confident and assured player. That was the big thing that stood out in this game, the confidence, because the technical gap was just so big between the two sides.

Mihailovic is quite technical, though, and is among the better attacking midfielders in the pool. He is still somewhat unproven, though, as he probably hasn't gotten as many looks as he's deserved over the last few years.

That should change in the coming weeks and months. At 24, Mihailovic is beginning to blossom and, on Wednesday, he had his best performance yet.

AdvertisementGettyLOSER: Cade Cowell

It's not that Cowell had a bad game, because he didn't. He was decent enough and dangerous enough. Still, you were left wanting more from the 19-year-old attacker, who just couldn't quite take this one over in the way he did so often at the Under-20 World Cup.

Handed a chance to start, Cowell never really threatened the opponents with his pace and dribbling ability. Part of that was because of the style of game, of course, with the defense bunkered in, but even when he had moments, he just couldn't quite create magic like he did earlier this summer.

At this point, Cowell may just be a better supersub for the USMNT, with his physical attributes having a better chance to impact games later on. That's not to say he'll be in that role permanently, because his ceiling is so high, but at the moment, his game is just missing the little things that help break down a bunkered defense.

Those little things could come eventually, and the U20 World Cup showed us that Cowell is, in fact, a player for the big moments. He'll have bigger ones than a Wednesday night game against St. Kitts and Nevis, and the hope will be that he can take those moments and make a slightly bigger impact than he did in this one.

GettyWINNER: Jesus Ferreira

The haters will find a way to discredit this, and they'll be partially right. It is a fact that Ferreira's goal totals are massively inflated by dominant performances against really bad teams, and this was another one of those.

But all of the USMNT greats have played against those really bad teams. It's just CONCACAF, and this is how it works. But the fact is that Ferreira has absolutely destroyed those teams when given the chance.

He did so here, scoring three of the six. That takes his total to 11 in 20 games, making him the fastest-ever USMNT player to double-digit goals. It also makes him just the fourth USMNT player to score two hat-tricks, joining Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore. Decent company, eh?

The haters will still exist, of course, and, for some, Ferreira will never win them over. He did all he could on Wednesday, though, adding to his goal total in a big way while guiding his team to victory.

Getty ImagesLOSER: Alejandro Zendejas

Very similar to Cowell. It's not that Zendejas was bad, but more the fact that we expect better. He is and was meant to be the star of this team, the player most likely to contribute to the main group in the immediate future. His profile as a winger is unique in this player pool, as he's seemingly designed for games like this where you need a player to create just a little bit of space.

But, in two starts so far, he just hasn't quite looked like that player. He's had good moments, for sure, but he hasn't looked like a potential star. Wednesday night, in particular, can be summed up by one late miss, when Zendejas fired high and wide while trying to pick out a corner rather than just tucking a shot into the lower half of the net.

Maybe he's pressing a bit because of the expectations. Maybe he's still figuring out his role with this group. Who knows? Still, the U.S. will likely need more from him going forward. He's showed he can provide it in the past, but we haven't quite seen it yet in these two games.