The fresh-faced United States men's national team played to a 1-1 draw against Chile at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston on Tuesday night.
The United States' Christian Pulisic ruined Chile's clean sheet in the fourth minute. Pulisic chipped the ball over Chilean goalkeeper Gabriel Arias after midfielder Gyasi Zardes needed just two touches to flick Pulisic through. With the goal and at 20 years and 189 days old, he became the fastest player to 10 international goals in U.S. men's national team history.
Chile answered in the ninth minute when the U.S. failed to clear the ball from the box. The deflection fell to winger Oscar Opazo, who leveled the game at 1-1.
More notable than Pulisic's goal was his early exit from the game because of what was said first on the ESPN broadcast to be a right quad injury. Pulisic was replaced by Sebastian Lletget in the 36th minute, and his removal was described as precautionary.
Outside of Pulisic's goal and a few close chances created by midfielder Michael Bradley, it was a mostly sloppy first-half performance for the Americans—especially in the back third.
The U.S. changed from its original 4-3-3 setup to 5-4-1 when midfielder Daniel Lovitz subbed on for forward Corey Baird in the 56th minute. While that did help, Chile mostly dominated run of play, ending with 66 percent possession and 11 shots (three on goal).
The draw closes the United States' spring international window. The U.S. had been 3-0 without allowing a goal under new head coach Gregg Berhalter in 2019, while Chile entered the match having lost 3-1 to Mexico in an international friendly on Friday night.
To further illustrate the changing of the guard, 25-year-old DeAndre Yedlin captained his first match for the U.S.
After the final whistle, Berhalter told ESPN's Jeff Carlisle that Pulisic would get an MRI on his right quad "right now."
While Pulisic's injury does not appear serious, the U.S. lost midfielder Weston McKennie in their international friendly with Ecuador on Thursday. McKennie suffered a gruesome ankle sprain. McKennie is expected to miss "several weeks," per U.S. Soccer.
The focus for Berhalter's squad moving into the summer will be ensuring no other key players get hurt as he continues to tinker with the roster ahead of the 2019 Gold Cup.
After failing to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the U.S. men's national team is on the front end of a rebuild. Berhalter is giving several players a look, as Tuesday night's starting lineup included seven changes from the 1-0 win over Ecuador.
Berhalter came to the USMNT from Columbus Crew SC of MLS, and he has brought several MLS players up with him for this stretch: Zardes (Columbus Crew), Baird (Real Salt Lake), Lovitz (Montreal Impact), Christian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), Jordan Morris (Sounders), Wil Trapp (Crew), Jonathan Lewis (NYCFC) and Michael Bradley (Toronto FC).
Bradley made his 145th appearance for the national team and is this squad's most experienced member.
On Feb. 1, Robert Jonas of Pro Soccer USA outlined Bradley's importance:
"But the decision to invite Bradley, 31, was an easy one for new head coach Gregg Berhalter, who values the qualities the veteran and longtime U.S. captain brings to a team.
"And such are the skills and leadership the midfielder possesses, that the rookie coach saw fit to start him last weekend in the United States' 3-0 victory over Panama, a game that saw seven other players earn their first international appearances.
"'It's pretty remarkable when you realize he has more caps than the rest of the roster combined,' Berhalter said."
Now more than in recent years, these four international friendlies are experimental for the U.S. As long as there is palpable improvement in competitions such as the Gold Cup, being dominated by Chile in March won't matter.
What's Next?
The U.S. opens training camp for the Gold Cup in late May, and at this point, anybody could be suited up in the starting XI come June.
Chile will next take the pitch against Japan on June 17.
Read 0 Comments
Download the app for comments Get the B/R app to join the conversation