The U.S. Men’s National Team concludes its March schedule on Tuesday night against Conmebol side Chile.
Gregg Berhalter will look to make it four wins from four as USMNT head coach after a recent 1-0 win over Ecuador. Gyasi Zardes scored the lone goal in last Thursday’s friendly in Orlando which saw two players injured. Weston McKennie suffered ruptured ankle ligaments while Wil Trapp left the match with a left leg contusion.
Berhalter confirmed Ethan Horvath will get the start in goal on Tuesday while other players could see the starting XI via rotation. Christian Pulisic, Paul Arriola, and Tim Ream all get the starting nod while Omar Gonzalez, DeAndre Yedlin, and Michael Bradley are come into the squad.
Chile are coming off a loss to Mexico in Tata Martino’s debut as El Tri boss. With Alexis Sanchez unable to participate in this camp due to injury, the Chileans will rely on the play of midfielders Arturo Vidal and Charles Aranguiz.
Our XI in Houston. Bring on 🇨🇱.
Lineup notes » https://t.co/seLZkC5uUB pic.twitter.com/EeR6VzUcnQ— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) March 26, 2019
The SBI editorial staff will be providing live commentary on this afternoon’s match so feel free to follow the action here. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions (NOT play-by-play commentary) in the comments section below.
Enjoy the match.
FT: USMNT 1 – Chile 1. Pulisic and Opazo trade goals in a 1-1 draw in Houston. A good test for the U.S. who honestly were outplayed by the Chileans. Good showing from players like Roldan, Zardes, Pulisic, and Miazga. A lot to learn and a lot to take in. We will see if this group remains come June. Thanks for joining!
Three mins of stoppage time. 90′
Sporting KC’s Diego Rubio on for Chile now. Would be intriguing to see if he has a final say. 86′
Vegas pulls back Lewis and receives a yellow card. Easy call. 85′
Jonathan Lewis on for Roldan. Roldan with a great shift. Definitely a lot of work put in tonight by the Sounders man. 84′
Jordan Morris on for Zardes. 79′
U.S. really holding on here as Chile continues to bring pressure. Luckily they haven’t had many good chances towards goal. 77′
Isla is down in pain after Lovitz sees a yellow card. 75′
Double sub for Chile: Sebastian Vegas and Erick Pulgar on for Diego Valdes and Guillermo Maripan. 70′
Maripan was whistled for a foul on Roldan but looks to have caught the worse of it. 69′
Chile with an injury concern of their own as Maripan is carried off. 69′
As expected, Trapp sits next to Bradley in midfield. Should bolster some physicality in the middle of the park. 66′
Wil Trapp on to replace Arriola. 66′
Daniel Lovitz coming on to replace Corey Baird. 56′
Great control by Zardes sees the Crew man take a shot but its way over. 56′
Chile should be awarded a goal simply for that nutmeg on Bradley.
Chile beginning to own possession in the second-half. USMNT trying to pose a threat but looks tough right now. 52′
HT: USMNT 1 – Chile 1. An eventful first half has seen the teams trade goals in the opening ten minutes. Christian Pulisic scored on Gyasi Zardes’ assist while Oscar Opazo equalized five minutes later. Pulisic left due to a reported right quadriceps injury. More to come from Houston.
Pulisic is not hurt. He looked like he was over the game after he scored. Smh
Bradley with an absolute peach of a pass to Corey Baird but the RSL man is unable to get clear contact on the effort. 44′
Horvath making a save there. USMNT looking a little suspect now after having possession earlier in the half. Careless mistakes haven’t helped either. 41′
Welp. Pulisic is getting his quad looked at and is replaced by Sebastian Lletget. 36′
Good recovery by Ream to block Vidal’s effort. 26′
Lovely ball from Bradley but U.S. aren’t able to capitalize. Baird’s pass was unable to be controlled by Pulisic. 18′
Pulisic with a great run. Zardes with another great touch but luckily for Chile they survive. 12′
Poor defending by the U.S. on Chile’s goal. Pinned back and Opazo was left open to score.
Chile bite back and its 1-1. Oscar Opazo’s effort is deflected in. His first senior goal for Chile. 9′
Vidal has the chance to fire a shot but its wide. Poor clearance. 8′
Zardes has been criticized before for his hold up play and passing in tight spaces. He succeeded at both on that goal. Horvath with the secondary assist.
What a goal. Zardes plays in Pulisic and the midfielder chips it in. 1-0. 4′
Definitely a must-win for Chile tonight. A 3-1 hammering against Mexico last week.
Definitely some rotation was needed with players returning to domestic action this weekend.
Greetings everyone. Welcome to another exciting night of USMNT action.
It’s hard to stomach Bradley ands Gonzales starting. What message does this send about how Berhalter rates MB? Will Trapp has steadily been getting more playing time for the Nats and had is best performance yet against Ecuador, but is still dropped in favor of the Philosopher Jogger. This would have been a good test for Trapp to play against a quality opponent that will be attacking and putting pressure on the US. If he were being honest, Berhalter would just make Bradley captain.
Trapp took a knock in the Ecuador game.
Danny it’s the same ol’ same ol’…..I give up. I guess we just have to accept it, that Bradley will be in the USMNT midfield regardless (and while he is there, we will not win games against tough opponents)