Another potent injection of youth, another goalfest, another win — this time garnished with an extra dash of grit.
A youthful US men’s national team checked several more useful boxes as they banked their second victory of the autumn international window Tuesday night, rallying from 2-1 down to beat Chile 4-2 at St. Louis CITY SC’s Energizer Park, paced yet again by two goals from MLS teenagers and solid work from an ensemble cast of fresh faces.
Red Bull New York homegrown Julian Hall struck for the second time in as many games, surpassing FC Dallas product Ricardo Pepi as the youngest player in USMNT history to score in both of his first two caps, while a late clincher arrived from the foot of LA Galaxy academy alum Mathis Albert, now a prized prospect at Borussia Dortmund who became the youngest goalscorer in program history.
“The education, in the way that they came from the clubs, I think is a big credit to the clubs, the coaches, coaches from the academy, coaches on the first team,” said head coach Mauricio Pochettino, praising not only his cadre of kids but the developmental system that prepared them for occasions like this. “They're teenagers, but they are mature enough to compete in the way that they were competing.
“The federation, us, all the staff, everyone believes in the talent of these players, and that is so important,” he added. “We need to congratulate everyone; I congratulate the MLS teams and organization, but also I congratulate the federation, because it's providing a very good platform for them to perform.”
MLS foundation
It helped that the young’uns were shown the way by a man-of-the-match outing from Sebastian Berhalter.
The former Vancouver Whitecaps Best XI midfielder notched a goal and an assist for the second straight match, driving his team onward for 83 minutes in a confident engine-room display that underlined his enormous progress since his first call-up less than a year and a half ago.
“To have a player like him is priceless,” marveled Pochettino.
After coming off the bench to clinch Saturday’s 4-1 win over Peru, Hall got the start in STL, one of six players handed their first career start by Pochettino, all of them MLS-based: Hall, Chris Brady, Adri Mehmeti, Neil Pierre, Brooklyn Raines and Frankie Westfield.
This new-look XI labored for key stretches of the first half, struggling to solve Chile’s tigerish press. Several Yank mistakes led directly to big chances, the South American side ringing shots off the woodwork. Yet Hall calmed his side’s fraying nerves with two moments of quality – the first, a clever dummy of Sergiño Dest’s centering pass which created space for Berhalter to fire home the opener, the second his nimble leaping header to glance the Yanks’ second past Chilean ‘keeper Lawrence Vigouroux.
“It’s been amazing to share the field with some amazing players, and they put me in the right spots,” Hall said on the TNT postgame show, “and I'm just doing as much as I can to put them away.
“As everyone knows, we have a lot of new young guys here, making their debuts, and everyone's out there playing like this is their 100th cap, almost. So it's been awesome to share the field with those guys.”
International intensity
As if to complete a checklist of useful experiences ahead of their looming border-rival showdowns with Mexico and Canada, these young Yanks ended the game with a sustained confrontation that nearly sparked into a brawl at the final whistle.
The kerfuffle began when Leandro Hernández petulantly poked at the ball after US and Nashville SC goalkeeper Brian Schwake had collected it in the dying minutes. While it was a small contact, it provoked an instant collective reaction from the hosts, who flocked to Schwake’s defense.
“Obviously they're frustrated they're losing the game – deservingly,” veteran center back Chris Richards, who delivered the game-winner with a bullet header of a Berhalter corner kick, later explained. “But then if they foul our goalie and kick him once on the ground, you're on our home soil, so that's not going to fly.
“Regardless of who comes in, I think the first thing we have to buy into is family, and I think you've seen that.”
So in the end, a dose of bad blood actually lifted the USMNT’s already-positive vibes that much further as Pochettino’s refreshment of the player pool picks up pace.
“That is amazing,” the manager said of his squad’s fierce commitment to one another. “That is amazing because that shows that you care for your teammates, and then we are defending our shirt.
“That shows that we are doing good things, and we have a very good group of players that want to be successful, and they only need time, time together, and keep working, keep working. For sure, the talent is there. Now it's up to us how we manage that talent.”
Their next test is traditionally the biggest one on offer in North America: A tangle with Mexico in Arizona this weekend, where a strongly pro-El Tri crowd is expected.
