Experimental USMNT’s impressive win over Uruguay creates problems, and that’s a good thing
TAMPA, Florida. – To borrow a phrase from Bill Hader’s fictional novel Saturday evening live character Stefon, the year the United States men’s national team had All – routine victories, uninteresting defeats, new faces and a new tactical vision. Even though USMNT spectators have been trained to expect the unexpected, their final match of 2025 threw something completely new to the masses: a 5-1 takedown of Uruguay, delivered by a completely rotating team full of cusp players eager to make their case for a spot on the World Cup team.
The match started routinely, then the goals seemed to come all at once. Sebastian Berhalter put the USMNT ahead in the 17th minute with an impressive strike, but by the time Alex Freeman completed a brace in the 31st minute, habits had set in. The United States basically scored when it felt like it, with the Uruguayan defense collapsing time and time again. Freeman’s second goal was perhaps the standout example: the Orlando City defender torched Barcelona center back Ronald Araujo, perfectly illustrating the mood of the evening.
Diego Luna scored his own goal before half-time and, even on a difficult evening for Uruguay, delivered a brilliant moment with a bicycle kick from Giorgian de Arrascaeta. A calmer start to the second half did not mean the eventful part of the evening was over: Rodrigo Bentancur’s second yellow card in the 65th minute and Tanner Tessman’s goal four minutes later kept the party going, another blow in a busy evening. Raymond James Stadium was far from full but for all in attendance, it was time well spent. This was especially true for an unfamiliar version of the USMNT, which notched the first victory since head coach Mauricio Pochettino took over as head coach just over a year ago.
Pochettino said on Monday he would rotate his squad, partly to explain the rapid turnaround after Saturday’s 2-1 win over Paraguay, but rare are the occasions when the head coach wholeheartedly embraces a spirit of experimentation quite as he did on Tuesday. He made nine changes to his starting XI, with the group almost exclusively made up of players who needed to pack their bags for the World Cup. These players wasted no time in doing so – Freeman has been on track for a place in the World Cup squad for months now, but has strengthened his argument, as has Luna.
Luna and Freeman are perhaps the poster children of the Pochettino experiment – neither were really on the USMNT’s radar before the head coach’s arrival, but continue to earn national team invites and minutes on the pitch. Luna ends 2025 as the leader of the national team while Freeman was the surprise star of the show in his home state, a classic example of why the head coach brought in new faces to shake things up.
“It’s our job, our duty to see the projection of the player and for that we have to give him a chance and see how he plays, how he acts, his character, his mentality,” Pochettino said after the match about Freeman. “[At] a certain point is recognizing a certain talent, but in the same way it is being courageous to give the opportunity to play. … For me, this is not our merit. We [only] create the platform to allow it to show the quality, but the credit is [for] him.
“But I’m so happy, so happy that he scored twice,” Pochettino continued. “You have to analyze the way he plays – he can play as a third central defender, he can play forward on the side, go inside. The moment he took the ball, how difficult it is for the opponent to stop him, come in and play. When he has the ball, the team is like – it’s like a relief. It’s that easy [he] plays.”
Freeman and Luna’s teammates followed their lead Tuesday, rising to the occasion in more ways than one. It was a statement night for Berhalter, who scored a goal and an assist in the 20th minute. The Vancouver Whitecaps player got into a heated conversation in midfield, harassing Uruguay to the point that Bentancur was sent off for hitting his ankle. He deputized in midfield alongside Aidan Morris, with both men holding down the fort very well while veterans like Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie missed this month’s camp for various reasons.
“We know we have the quality to put in such performances, but I think it’s a question of DNA and mentality before matches,” Luna said. “That’s been the biggest change and I think finding that and whatever player we have on the pitch, we have the quality. I think it’s just about making sure we bring that hard-working mentality and mindset to every game.”
These two, however, only scratch the surface of how Pochettino’s insistence on experimentation has succeeded, and it’s not the first time either. Results have been inconsistent in the years since Pochettino took charge, but the one constant has been an unwavering commitment to tearing it up and starting from scratch. The team may have looked aimless at times along the way, raising questions about whether Pochettino had cast the net far too wide and sacrificed chemistry during a truncated World Cup preparation. Next summer’s tournament may still be seven months away, but Pochettino could well be in as good a position as ever to take a victory lap. His team may not be familiar with the one that lost 1-0 to Uruguay in the final game of Gregg Berhalter’s tenure in charge, better for just about every change he made.
“We never doubted because we saw the quality of the players,” Pochettino said. “[It] was just to trust them and give them the opportunity to find a way, to perform, to behave, to be the way we feel what we feel. [it] means being professional.
Now on a three-game winning streak and undefeated in their last five games, the USMNT continues to find different ways to achieve victories. Saturday’s performance against Paraguay gave way to remarkable set-piece success on Tuesday. Pochettino’s side scored four of their five goals on those occasions, with the particular skills of several players coming to the fore. Berhalter was a bright spot on those dead ball chances in the Concacaf Gold Cup and made an impact again against Uruguay, while left winger John Tolkin recalled his New York Red Bulls heritage and whipped in the corner that led to Freeman’s opening goal.
“I feel like we’re working on it,” Freeman said. “It’s a chance to score, so I think for us it’s just being able to know that it’s an opportunity to score and we have to be there 100 percent. We can’t take a set piece half-heartedly or half-heartedly. We want to be there 100 percent. … For us, it’s very good to be able to score that way.”
This performance, both collective and individual, presents Pochettino with a fair series of problems with only one international break left until his World Cup roster is set. This may have created an unpredictable race to the finish – which is exactly what Pochettino always hoped for.
“Honestly, it makes it very difficult for Pochettino, knowing that a lot of these guys come in and have a big impact on the team,” Freeman said. “They’re going to come in and give 100 percent and… [try] to turn heads, which one to choose. I think it just gives our pool a great showcase for different people and I feel like it makes us a good nation to play with because you know other people are going to come in at 100 percent and we have so many talented players in the pool so it’s just about being able to try and pick the best ones and come in at 100 percent and be able to perform and I think that just brings good training and good international breaks.
