CHESTER, Pa. — The U.S. men’s national team’s unbeaten run continued on Saturday after Mauricio Pochettino’s squad grinded out a home win over another qualified World Cup nation.
Goals from Gio Reyna and Folarin Balogun propelled the Americans to a 2-1 home victory at Subaru Park. The victory was the USMNT’s 10th this year in all competitions and extended the program’s unbeaten run to four matches.
It was a fast start for the USMNT as Reyna delivered his first senior goal since March 2024. Max Arfsten’s cross from the right wing was headed off of the crossbar by Reyna, giving the USMNT a 1-0 lead after four minutes.
Paraguay hit back though in the ninth minute as Alex Arce scored his first senior goal on a diving header. Miguel Almiron’s dangerous cross from the left wing bounced in the box before Arce dove and finished off the play making it 1-1.
The USMNT upped their offensive pressure in the second half which would lead to the go-ahead goal. Cristian Roldan forced a turnover on right back Juan Caceres before playing a ball into the box for Reyna to gather.
Reyna’s low cross was poked away by Gustavo Gomez, but Balogun pounced on the loose ball to make it 2-1. The goal was Balogun’s third international goal of the year and his sixth overall in his last 10 appearances for club and country.
Matt Freese made a key save in the 78th minute on Almiron, tipping the Atlanta United star’s long-range shot over the crossbar. It was the only save that Freese would have to make the rest of the way as the Americans held on for the victory.
Ricardo Pepi, Alex Freeman, Sebastian Berhalter, and Aidan Morris were among the second-half substitutions made by Pochettino as he continued to see all of his players in the World Cup build-up.
The USMNT will close their two-match window on Tuesday in Tampa, Florida against Uruguay, a side they lost to in the 2024 Copa America.
I wasn’t watching it, but thanks for mentioning that it was on.
Are the ads bad even on Univisión over the air? It’s worse in some respects since being bought by Televisa — the sad news anchor loss of Jorge Ramos, who I wish would now run for office in Florida — but I hadn’t noticed that the oligarchy had affected the soccer that much, except for more shameless advertising for Club América, which is surely so rich it doesn’t need to hawk any more merch.
That kid Lainez still seems annoying. They commented that he got a yellow as soon as he came on, without even having touched the ball.
Then a hard Uruguayan elbow as payback …
No wonder European club coaches can be reluctant to send players out into the Wild West of the Americas? Bad grass, bad refs, bad tempers … Now the crowd is angry.
There may indeed be more of this split-screen stuff now. A distracting nuisance.
Will the USMNT want to keep some better players off the field next time if the mood is so testy?
Watching Mex v Uru. Not impressed with either team.
Not impressed with TUDN either plastering ads all over the screen at various times.
Uruguay missing a lot of players.