The questions facing the US men’s national team this year have been legion. In a disastrous Nations League finals in March: Where was the fight? Where was the likability? In a shorthanded Summer slate: Where was the commitment from the team’s best players? How deep is this team, really? And for head coach Mauricio Pochettino, the entire time: Where is the signature win?
After Tuesday’s 5-1 smashing of a mostly first-choice Uruguay side in Tampa, Florida, there will be a new question added: Can the World Cup start tomorrow?
The United States, having made nine changes from Saturday’s solid 2-1 win over Paraguay, were nonetheless rampant through the first 45 minutes on Tuesday evening. Midfielder Sebastian Berhalter struck first with a curling beauty off a set piece, before setting up right-back Alex Freeman off a corner kick to double the lead. Freeman then finished off a great team goal, dribbling through two Uruguay defenders before finishing off the United States’ third. Diego Luna capped the flurry with a smart finish off a cutback.
Pochettino, for his part, wasn’t getting carried away. When this team was floundering at rock bottom, the Argentine manager insisted that positive results were good to have, but not strictly necessary. And after half-time, with his team holding a 4-1 lead over one of the world’s best teams with a largely second-choice squad, he again told the TNT broadcast that the result was not important. He seemed mostly perturbed by the US allowing Uruguay a route back into the game – in the 44th minute, Uruguay’s Giorgian de Arrascaeta rattled the woodwork with a powerful effort, before taking advantage of a US scramble in their own penalty area to score off an impressive, acrobatic bicycle kick.
It was an exclamation point ending to a mostly dreadful first half for Marclo Bielsa’s side, who hardly ever got out of second gear. Though in fairness, they were dealt an early shock with Berhalter’s opener.
After Haji Wright won a free kick just off the left edge of the penalty area, Berhalter put the expertise on set pieces he has displayed consistently in MLS to good use on the international stage. The Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder tapped the ball to Sergiño Dest, who returned the service to Berhalter’s right foot, where he curled in an exquisite effort past goalkeeper Cristopher Fiermarin for the opener 15 minutes in. It was Berhalter’s first goal for the national team – something his father, former USMNT head coach Gregg – never did in his 44-cap playing career as a center back.
From there, it was the Alex Freeman show for a time. Berhalter put the ball on the promising Orlando City youngster’s head at the far post to double the Americans’ lead in the 20th minute, but it was the US’s third that was really special. After a strong, smart tackle in midfield by late call-in Timmy Tillman and a quick-thinking ball forward from defender Auston Trusty, Freeman gathered the ball and ran directly at the Uruguay defense, turning two defenders inside-out before notching a delicate finish in the 31st.
Tillman’s great work continued. As the first half drew to a close, the LAFC midfielder found acres of space in the center of the Uruguay defense, allowing him time to pick up his head as defenders converged and cut the ball back to an onrushing Diego Luna, who made no mistake with his finish to make it 4-0.
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The shock was palpable in the stadium, on the broadcast, and likely in the hearts and minds of US fans. A team mostly made up of players on the World Cup squad bubble had dominated a first-choice Uruguay, who rarely looked all that close to matching the US – even less so after Rodrigo Betancur’s 64th-minute red card for a high tackle on Berhalter.
It’s the kind of win Pochettino has long craved – one where the result and the performance match to devastating effect. Perhaps the only flaw is that the World Cup opener is still 206 days away.
