JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jozy Altidore ended a six-month scoreless streak with a pair of goals, leading the United States over Nigeria 2-1 Saturday night in the Americans’ World Cup send-off match.
Altidore tapped in Fabian Johnson’s cross in the 31st minute, stopping a 27-match scoreless streak for club and country with his first goal since Dec. 4 for Sunderland against Chelsea.
He doubled the lead in the 68th, running onto Michael Bradley’s looping 30-yard pass over the defense, taking a touch with each foot as he cut inside of Nigeria captain Joseph Yobo and beating goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama with a right-footed shot from 12 yards.
The Americans were undefeated in their send-off series for the first time, beating the African champions following a 2-0 victory over Azerbaijan and a 2-1 win over Turkey.
Making their seventh straight World Cup appearance, the Americans head to Brazil on Sunday night and open June 16 against Ghana, the team that eliminated them from the last two tournaments.