The United States Men’s National Team suffered a 2-0 loss to Portugal on Tuesday night in Atlanta in their final match before the World Cup roster is named. Francisco Trincão and João Felix were the goalscorers for Portugal in the final match of the March international window.
Making six changes from the lineup that started against Belgium on Saturday, Christian Pulisic began the match operating at the center striker position with Weston McKennie, Malik Tillman, and Tim Weah behind him. It was an experimental
formation for head coach Mauricio Pochettino in the final match for the team before he names his World Cup roster.
There was no similarity in kit colors this evening, as the USMNT debuted their Stars jersey, while Portugal revealed their light green away jersey. A capacity crowd of 72,297 gathered inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium despite the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo was left off the Portugal roster due to an injury he sustained a few weeks ago. And the USMNT hoped to make a lasting impression.
The USMNT were aggressive early. Just 90 seconds in, Weston McKennie off a turnover received the ball from Tim Weah, and left a backheel pass for Malik Tillman, who took a shot. His shot was deflected and was calmly collected by Portuguese goalkeeper José Sá. Four minutes later, Christian Pulisic got a chance. Off a Tillman set up pass, Pulisic’s shot deep in the penalty area was blocked out of play for a corner kick. On the ensuing corner, McKennie made contact, but the shot goes just wide.
Portugal got their first good chance in the eight minute. Bruno Fernandes received the pass from João Cancelo and took a hard shot across the face of goal. USMNT goalkeeper Matt Freese hit the deck to make a brilliant outstretched save.
In the 22nd minute, the USMNT had another chance. Once again, Malik Tillman got the U.S. on the break with a pass to a streaking Tim Weah down the right side of the field. Weah sent a cross into the middle of the box where Christian Pulisic, who just missed putting a good foot on it. Antonee Robinson retrieved the cross and passed it off for Sebastian Berhalter, who fired a shot from 35 yards that required an outstretched save from Sa in one of the last acts before the first half hydration break.
The action resumed a few minutes later and Portugal created a nervous moment for the American defense, as they struggled to clear the ball and instead was forced to quickly head it out of play for a Portugal corner kick. They were able to recover and properly defend the corner kick without damage.
In the 36th minute, Alex Freeman was able to get forward towards goal. Just short of the penalty area, he passed it to Pulisic, who fired a low rocket from 25 yards that went just wide of the net.
A minute later, Portugal struck first. Off a turnover, Vitinha got the ball to Bruno Fernandes on the break. He laid it off behind to Francisco Trincão, who made the USMNT pay, firing a shot into the left side of the net to make it 1-0 to Portugal.
The USMNT tried to get it back and forced a turnover in the middle of the field in the 41st minute. However, an Antonee Robinson shot from 30 yards went well wide of the net. The USMNT continued to get opportunities, but were forced to settle for shots from well outside the box. In the 45th minute, Christian Pulisic finally got on the break with a long dribble. As he entered the box, he passed it off to McKennie, who slipped as he tried to collect the ball, ending the effort. The United States went into the locker room at halftime down 1-0 and seeking some momentum to get back into the match.
Mauricio Pochettino was looking for more momentum, and he opted for some tactical changes, abandoning the experiment of Christian Pulisic and Wes McKennie as the strikers. He brought in Patrick Agyemang at halftime to serve as the center forward, along with Tanner Tessmann for McKennie and Max Arfsten for Antonee Robinson. The hope was to return to the alignment that the USMNT has been using for much of the past few windows.
“I think it was really good. The performance was good but in small details i think we didn’t manage well,” Pochettino said after halftime when interviewed by TNT’s Melissa Ortiz. “Overall I think [it was] another first half, like against Belgium, that was really good. I think we show intensity, we show capacity to play against a very good team like Portugal. [We were unlucky] in the way that we conceded, we should’ve managed better. But these types of games are about learning. Because to play with this type of team, when they are in the top level, for us it’s a massive opportunity to keep learning and realize the situations we need to improve on.”
In the 56th minute, Portugal got a quick break. Matheus Nunes received a throughball and then dribbled laterally to pass it off to Gonçalo Ramos. Ramos’ shot went wide right of the net. However, a couple of minutes later, Portugal did get another one. Off a corner kick from Bruno Fernandes, João Felix collected the ball just at the top of the penalty area circle and then fired a laser that bounced off the left post and in to make it 2-0 to Portugal.
That goal took the wind out of the sails of the USMNT and the crowd as the team looked to figure out a way to get back into it. In the 67th minute, Portugal got yet another chance at goal. Off a Nunes throw in close to the endline, Francisco Conceicao didn’t let the ball hit the ground, volleying it toward the middle of the box. Ricardo Horta one-time volleyed a shot that just went over the crossbar in what was a spectacular effort.
The USMNT continued to fight for a goal, but just couldn’t put anything together in the final third. Despite the team playing hard, they weren’t able to break through Portugal’s defense to challenge them the rest of the way.
In the second minute of second half stoppage, Portugal had a chance to make it 3 once again. On the break, Conceicao got a shot from a tight angle, but it still required a terrific Freese save to deflect the ball wide of the net and out for a corner kick. A few minutes later, the referee blew his whistle for full time, with the United States falling by a 2-0 score.
The USMNT now have just club matches left before the World Cup roster is named. And they know the bar they have to elevate to in order to compete against the best in the world this summer. Tuesday night’s loss shows they have a lot of work to do to energize a nation before the World Cup begins.
