The United States Men’s National Team had a bit of a youth moment with their victories over Peru and Chile and that continued as the USMNT took on Mexico. After some pretty heavily experimental starting line ups, Coach Mauricio Pochettino leaned more towards experience, with Malik Tillman, Antonee Robinson, Chris Richards, Gio Reyna, Sebastian Berhalter, and Alex Freeman all starting after playing big roles at the World Cup. But there was still room for youth in the line up, with Diego Kochen starting in goal
and teenagers Julian Hall and Cavan Sullivan starting on the offensive line. And those youngsters proved decisive in this match.
The game started with Mexico on the front foot. El Tri managed to get into the box after only a couple of minutes. While Antonee Robinson was able to mop the ball up, his following pass was intercepted and the US was lucky that Mexico couldn’t get a shot off when the ball was played into the box.
The US finally got a moment of attacking energy in the 16th minute, when Malik Tillman charged into the box but had his shot easily blocked. From there, things were roughly even, with Mexico trying to play long balls and get in behind the defensive line, only to be thwarted by the offside flag or Kochen.
The breakthrough came in the 28th minute. Freeman made a really good pass to play a charging Reyna into Mexico’s penalty box. Reyna tried to cross from the byline, only to put it directly at the Mexican goalkeeper, Raul Rangel. However, Rangel flubbed it and Julian Hall was in the exact perfect spot to tap it in. 1-0 for the US, and the third goal in three games for Julian Hall.
From there, the game turned on its head. With Mexico now having to force the issue while the US could play patiently, the US gained more and more control of the game. The game got largely bogged down into fouls and physical play. Mexico then had their best chance with a cross into the box that Kochen redirected into Santiago Gimenez, but Gimenez could only put his shot wide.
Things picked up much the same way in the second half, with 8 fouls committed in less than 15 minutes. Then, Mexico got another look on goal. After Berhalter gave up a freekick in the final third, the ball made its way to Roberto Alverado who volleyed it towards the US’s goal, forcing the Kochen to leap to push the ball up and over the bar.
Just minutes later, Mexico’s goalkeeper again committed a devestating error. After recycling possession back to the goalkeeper, Rangel made an unforced error and played a pass that Cavan Sullivan intercepted. He then proceeded to chip the keeper in spectacular fashion. And just like that, Sullivan became the youngest player to ever score for the USMNT, taking the crown just 4 days after Matchis Albert broke the record against Peru.
That proved to be the last big moment for Sullivan, who then came off for Yunus Musah, while fellow goalscorer Julian Hall came off for Justin Ellis
Things for Mexico then went from bad to worse.
Mexico’s Luis Chavez went in and committed a needless and late foul on Musah. There then was a confrontation between Chavez and Berhalter and Chavez slapped Berhalter with both hands. And out came a red card for Chavez (and a yellow for Berhalter, too).
But that wasn’t the end of it for Mexico. In the 84th minute, El Tri again committed a defensive mistake, with Malik Tillman getting to a poor back pass ahead of the Mexican defender and then coolly slotting it in to make it 3-0 to cap off another spectacular night for the USMNT.
How are you feeling about the game? Who stood out to you? Drop a comment in the comments section and let us know!
