The United States Men’s National Team opened up their World Cup Warmup schedule with a match v. Senegal in Charlotte. Coach Mauricio Pochettino, given arguably his most complete squad to date, went with his preferred back 3 formation with a midfield of Tyler Adams and Sebastian Berhalter flanked by Antonee Robinson and Sergino Dest at wingback, with Christian Pulisic and Gio Reyna playin in the pockets in front of them, and Ricardo Pepi starting up top.
The USMNT started the game on the front foot.
In the opening minutes, there was a glimpse of what was to come with Antonee Robinson and Christian Pulisic combining along the left wing to put Pulisic on the byline, only for his cross to miss the MNT players in the box. But Pulisic got a do-over just a few minutes. In a spell of possession so beautiful, it could make Gregg Berhalter weep, the USMNT moved the ball from the defense, up the field on the left, over to the right, and then back to the left, this time to a Ricardo Pepi peeling over to that side. He in turn did a deft pass on the turn to an on rushing Pulisic who, this time, made no mistake in finding a streaking Dest in the box, ready and able to bury the ball in the goal.
1-0 USA
While the US wanted to attack with possession, Senegal was much more inclined to make the game a fast-paced and linear. However, the US had the better of the opening part of the game. The only moment was where Matt Turner was forced to swat the ball from Sadio Mane’s feet in the 12th minute. In just a few minutes, the USMNT was back in Senegal’s final third. They worked the ball well into the box but, despite multiple opportunities, failed to put in a shot in as the danced around the box. When Senegal recovered, they went for an immediate sucker punch, quickly putting the ball down the field and into the US’s box, but the eventual shot was put well above Turner’s goal.
But then came the US’s second big blow. tn the 20’, Ricardo Pepi again combined with Pulisic, this time on the right. Pulisic was put through for a clear one-v-one against the keeper. With a deft touch, Pulisic slipped the ball around the keeper before casually sliding it into goal. And just like that, 2-0.
The American pressure continued. In the 30’, Pulisic again was clear on the line and put a cross in. His ball was too high for Pepi, but it found Sebastian Berhalter who put the ball back in. Pepi got a head on it and dropped it to Robinson, but his shot was saved.
From there, Senegal started to get back into the game. Senegal did well to work the ball into the box on the left before forcing Turner to make a save. After the following corner, Senegal attacked again, this time forcing Turner to block a shot with his foot on the right. This isn’t to say that the US backed off. Gio Reyna got a shot a few minutes later that he put just wide. Senegal’s efforts finally bore fruit when Sadio Mane scored just before the end of the half. Habib Diarra was allowed to run in front of the US’s backline without being challenged and he released Mane in the box. And Mane made no mistake in slotting the ball past Turner. Pepi did have a shot at the close of added time after Dest tore in behind Senegal’s backline, but it was blocked. And so the half finished 2-1 in favor of the US.
With halftime came a slew of changes (this is a tune-up match, after all). Pochettino opted to swap out a whopping 8 players at the half, with Mark McKenzie coming off for Miles Robinson just five minutes later. Senegal was much more restrained, making just 3 changes. And it looked like the changes had paid off for the US, with Malik Tillman taking the ball in Senegal’s final third after a lax pass from the keeper. Tillman then played a ball to Folarin Balogun who coolly buried his shot in the top far corner. But it was not to be as the linesman’s flag went up and the goal was ruled offsides. Then, those bevy of changes came back to haunt the US, with Miles Robinson getting caught with a miscue on the ball and losing it and then not being able to recover to stop Mane from bungling it into the goal past him. With that, suddenly the US and Senegal were level.
Then came another false start with the US again putting the ball in the back of the net, only for it to be pulled back, this time for a foul. Finally, in the 63’, it stuck. Tim Weah found Balogun free in the box and, again, the Monaco man made no mistake. 3-2 USMNT and lead restored.
The US continued to push, with Balogun putting the ball over the bar mere minutes later. And then, in the 75’, the US again came achingly close. Balogun was again found in space in the box, but his shot was blocked by the keeper. The US immediately picked the ball back up and played it to McKennie, but his shot was also blocked, this time by the post. Balogun got another try, but again the goalkeeper denied him to concede a corner. The corner came, but aside from a very optimistic attempt from Berhalther from way out, Senegal’s goal wasn’t threatened at that moment. Late sub Alejandro Zendejas nearly got another goal, this time picking the pocket of Senegal’s last defender, Moustapha Mbow, but he couldn’t pull the shot off in time before Mbow recovered.
That scoreline wound up holding, with Balogun’s goal (the one that counted, anyway) proving the decider. The USMNT returns for their second and final warm up match against Germany on the 6th in Chicago before kicking their tournament off with their Group D match v. Paraguay on June 12th. Senegal start their World Cup on June 16th against France.
