USA v Australia: men’s international football friendly – live updates | Friendlies
Key events
Aim! United States 2-1 Australia (Wright, 51′)
The United States took the lead on a clever and quickly executed free kick by Cristian Roldan. Fouled in midfield, Roldan had the presence of mind to raise his head and fire a long ball into the path of Haji Wright, who was one-on-one with Australian defender Cameron Burgess. Wright hit Burgess with a nifty change of direction that sent Burgess to the ground, then finished at the far post with his left foot.
Two great goals from Wright tonight and a smart contribution from Roldan that Pochettino will absolutely love.
46 minutes: Jordan Bos almost scored another Australian goal, dribbling through a crowd of American players and finding Aidan O’Neill with a cutback, but his on-target shot was blocked in the penalty area by an American defender.
Second half underway!
No changes for either team at halftime as play resumes in Colorado.
Speaking to Melissa Ortiz, Mauricio Pochettino said of the United States: “I think we conceded a goal that we shouldn’t concede. »
He said the team played “more naturally” after the goal.
The second half is almost underway.
Reader Scott asks a question:
Why do you think Pochetino has made so many changes to the 11 since the last game? I can’t understand.
For two friendlies, I think the changes make sense. Remember, this team doesn’t have much experience in this 3-at-the-back look, so it’s likely that Pochettino wants to see how many players perform in the types of roles created by the setup. Can Sands, for example, operate as a double pivot? What is Haji Wright like as a target forward after primarily playing as a winger with the United States?
These are all important questions that need to be answered ahead of the World Cup.
Half time! USA 1-1 Australia
Jordan Bos scored first for Australia, before Haji Wright equalized for the United States.
What do you think of the way things are going? As just another guy sitting in a room in New York watching this, I’d love to know the view from Down Under.
45 minutes: Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Another tough challenge from Australia has American players angry. This time it was NYC FC player Aiden O’Neill who won once over James Sands.
Richards recovers D’Agostino for his previous foul with a kick of his own, after which the referee wisely whistles for halftime.
44 minutes: It’s a bit of a flashpoint here as Australian Nicholas D’Agostino heads towards James Sands with a tackle from behind. The American players can’t believe a foul wasn’t called immediately and no yellow was issued. D’Agostino got the ball, but it was clearly reckless.
Sands was slow to get up and received treatment on the sidelines, but returned to the game.
Reader Alistair weighs in with a much appreciated correction/context to my point about Mauricio Pochettino and the Chick-fil-A quote earlier. It appears Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy stole the quote from management guru Peter Drucker, who, as Alistair notes, was not anti-gay.
Let this be the last mention of Chick-fil-A on this live blog.
36 minutes: A chance! Cristian Roldan fires a long-range shot from outside the box that bounces just wide.
Aim! USA 1-1 Australia (Wright 33′)
The United States level thanks to Haji Wright! And it was a very nice finish. Weston McKennie kicked Wright off with a well-weighted ball, and Wright tip-toed past Maty Ryan to make it 1-1 Colorado.
30 minutes: A blow ! Tim Weah finds space on the left wing, cuts inside and uncorks a fine long-range effort which curls to the far post but is saved nicely by Maty Ryan.
In addition, Diego Luna is now in the game in place of Christian Pulisic.
28 minutes: As feared, Pulisic will retire. He committed two serious fouls in this match and Pochettino is pulling him, probably at least partially so as not to attract the fiery wrath of Milan’s sporting department.
Diego Luna looks ready to come into play for the United States.
26 minutes: Some crazy back and forth here, with Australia easily playing through the American midfield, only for the attack to run out of steam with Nicholas D’Agostino in the penalty area. The United States came back immediately with a Pulisic run in the gut, earning them a yellow card after a foul. Again, it stays on the ground a bit after coming down. One has to wonder how much time he has left in the game at this point, considering he was landing a blow before.
Aim! United States 0-1 Australia (Bos, 19′)
Alexander Abnos
Jordan Bos makes my previous update on Miles Robinson very ridiculous. After a throw-in, Robinson switched off for a second as the ball got to Bos, who took advantage of the space and attacked a strangely timid USMNT backline, then finished at the far post. It was a good goal for Australia, but also a very bad one for the United States.
18 minutes: Truly impressive recovery run from Miles Robinson to stifle an Australian attack. This kind of play is why he can be such a useful defender for the United States. Very few people like it in the open field.
15 minutes: Christian Pulisic falls after a violent tackle, his ankle getting trapped under him as he falls. A little worrying but the American captain is up and seems to be moving well.
8 minutes: The US show just told the story of Mauricio Pochettino posting the message “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” in America’s locker room – a quote he took from the Chick-fil-A CEO he spoke with earlier this year. He was apparently captivated.
Anyway, about the culture of Chick-fil-A…
6 minutes: Tim Weah plays left winger, a position he hasn’t played much, if ever, for the United States, but one where he played a lot with Marseille after his off-season transfer from Juventus. Antonee Robinson won’t be available tonight as he continues to recover from knee surgery, but a strong performance from Weah here could make him an option in place of Robinson if this injury problem unexpectedly persists.
Alexander Abnos
Question to readers
Who do you most want to see tonight and why? (I would love responses from fans of both teams!)
Let me know! My email/bluesky are above.
1 minute: We are on our way!
Alexander Abnos
After the Australian national anthem and an interesting rendition of its American counterpart, we are all ready to go.
Alexander Abnos
The teams head onto the field, which is yet another reminder that Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado, has one of the strangest player entrance paths I’ve ever seen. Players walk from a separate clubhouse up a bunch of stairs at the far end of the pitch and enter the pitch behind the goal on that side.
Nothing wrong with that, in itself! Just weird.
Alexander Abnos
In case you missed it, the USMNT’s previous break went pretty well! Mauricio Pochettino stuck with the 3 at the back look and was rewarded with probably the best overall performance of his tenure.
As for Australia, things also went well, as teenage sensation Nestory Irankunda scored to seal a 1-0 win over Canada.
Alexander Abnos
And if you’re in the mood for some slightly more ridiculous and/or sobering news, US President Donald Trump today threatened to pull the World Cup games in Boston (and the Olympics in Los Angeles).
Does he have the power to do so unilaterally? Not really.
Alexander Abnos
Looking for a quick pre-game read?
May I suggest Mike Tuckerman’s excellent article on how several Australians found their place in Major League Soccer:
Australian starters
And here is Tony Popovic’s starting XI for the match against the United States.
Maty Ryan captains the team, with a few changes from the Socceroos’ last match, a 1-0 win over Canada. The scorer of this match, Nestory Irankunda, starts on the bench.
USMNT starters
We have the home team lineup for this match.
The big news is that Christian Pulisic starts this match after being on the bench last time out against Ecuador. US coach Mauricio Pochettino said Pulisic was dealing with a minor problem in camp, but it’s clearly not enough to keep him out of the XI today.
Other interesting additions are James Sands and Cristian Roldan, who should move into more defensive midfield positions behind Pulisic and Weston McKennie further up the pitch.
Haji Wright gets the nod as a striker. A good performance from him could give the USMNT something of a striker controversy after so much time waiting for someone – anyone – to perform well at the position.
Based on personnel, it will theoretically be a 3-4-2-1 but with plenty of flexibility during the match itself:
USMNT XI: Matt Freese; Chris Richards, Miles Robinson; Mark McKenzie; Tim Weah, Cristian Roldan, James Sands, Alex Freeman; Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie; Haji Wright
Alexander Abnos
Hello everyone! Alexander Abnos here, ready to accompany you… whatever the outcome of this friendly. Score predictions? Send them to me on BlueSky or to my email above.
Alexandre will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s a look at how Major League Soccer is proving fertile ground for a growing group of Australian players and coaches.
