USA 2-1 Australia: men’s international football friendly – as it happened | Friendlies
Key events
Alexander Abnos
That’s all from me, folks. Thanks for following along. Stay tuned to the Guardian for more great coverage on this one from our journalists in Australia and the US.
Have a good night, US. Have a good afternoon, Australia. Be well wherever you are.
Full time: USA 2-1 Australia
Two great goals from Haji Wright gave the US a win to close the October international window, as Mauricio Pochettino’s side came back from a goal down against Australia in a friendly at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.
Jordan Bos scored the Socceroos’ only goal, taking advantage of a flat-footed US defense and finishing well past goalkeeper Matt Freese. Wright responded in the 33rd minute with a toe-poked finish off a through ball from Cristian Roldan.
Wright added his second in the second half. That goal, like the first, was assisted by Cristian Roldan, whose quick free kick found Wright behind the Australia backline. The Coventry City forward cut inside well and unleashed a wicked curling effort past Maty Ryan for the goal that ended up being the winner.
90+1 mins: Aidan Morris with a great chance, continuing his run after laying off to the wing and cutting inside. His shot rolls wide of the post, though. He’ll be disappointed with that – you expect at least a shot on target with that kind of space.
There will be four minutes of added time.
89 mins: Oh man. Nestory Irankunda danced his way through the US defense, holding off the challenge of Miles Robinson and Aidan Morris to the doorstep of goal. His shot, coming after several stepovers in front of Chris Richards, is saved by Matt Freese. What a goal that would have been.
81 mins: Wow, big collision between Alex Freeman and Jordan Bos in an aerial challenge. Might have been a little reckless from Freeman but both players were going for the loose ball. Both are shaken up and being attended to by training staff.
79 mins: What a chance for Diego Luna! The Real Salt Lake man has played well since coming on for Christian Pulisic, and on this occasion he did well to get the ball through traffic to Brenden Aaronson, then smartly continued his run in the box as Aaronson worked inside. Aaronson’s ball found Luna at point-blank range, but Maty Ryan got down well to save. Luna can’t believe he didn’t score there, and neither could the crowd.
Alexander Abnos
Reader Rob gets in touch with some more thoughts on Australia:
Surprised in a way Toure and Irankunda didn’t start. Those two need more game time together, they look the part as a dual strike force, something Oz really haven’t had.
Yes squad rotation is important even in friendlies so folks get game time but this being a tournament host surely putting the strongest lineup out there, is a statement of intent. And there’s an 11 game unbeaten run to defend!
There’s always a discussion to be had about the value of squad rotation versus developing chemistry among your first-choice players. Personally, in a friendly many months from the World Cup, I’m OK with the rotation. But I wouldn’t say Rob is wrong, either. I will say, though, that this probably was not the US’s strongest lineup (but it’s not far off).
75 min: Australia is enjoying much longer spells of possession now than they have previously in this game but the US’s low block is doing a good job of cutting out the final pass the Aussies are looking for.
As I was typing that, Jordan Bos breaks through with yet another long run through the heart of defense, only squandered when he had no options at the top of the box.
72 min: Australia has looked slightly more aggressive since the subs came on. No super-clean looks on goal yet, but you can sense one is coming. They are pressing high and trying to limit the US to long balls forward.
It’s worth checking out Wright’s second goal if you haven’t already:
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Reader Oliver sends in the view from Australia:
Game has gone relatively as expected. No one here was expecting us to realistically compete with the US without sitting in our now-standard low block. Hopefully we can get an equiliser! Getting a win and a draw out of this break would be a huge achievement, and set us up to get pot 2 for the World Cup draw.
I dunno about you all, but concrete discussions about pots and seedings and the World Cup draw has given me a new jolt of excitement for next year’s tournament.
64 mins: And now the US make a few subs of their own.
Tanner Tessmann on for James Sands.
Brenden Aaronson for Tim Weah.
Folarin Balogun for Haji Wright after what US commentator Kyle Martino rightly calls a “statement performance.”
60 mins: A bunch of Australia subs:
Mohamed Toure for Martin Boyle
Patrick Yazbek for Maximilien Ballard
Ajden Hrustic for Connor Metcalfe
Nestory Irankunda for Nicholas D’Agostino
Goal! USA 2-1 Australia (Wright, 51′)
The US takes the lead on a clever, quickly taken free kick by Cristian Roldan. Fouled at midfield, Roldan had the presence of mind to pick up his head and fire a long ball into the path of Haji Wright, who was one-on-one with Australia defender Cameron Burgess. Wright hit Burgess with a nifty change of direction that sent Burgess to the ground, then finished to the far post with his left foot.
Two really nice goals from Wright tonight, and a clever contribution from Roldan that Pochettino will absolutely love.
46 min: Jordan Bos nearly sets up another Australia goal, dribbling through a crowd of US players and finding Aidan O’Neill with a cutback, but his shot on target was blocked in the six-yard box by a US defender.
Second half underway!
No changes for either side at half-time as play gets restarted in Colorado.
Speaking to Melissa Ortiz, Mauricio Pochettino said of the US: “I think we concede a goal that we should not concede.”
Said that the team played “more natural” after that goal.
Second half nearly underway.
Reader Scott gets in touch with a question:
Why do you suppose Pochetino made so many changes to the 11 from the last game? Can’t figure it out.
For a pair of friendlies, I think the changes make sense. Remember that this team doesn’t have a lot of mileage running this 3-at-the-back look, so it’s likely Pochettino wants to see how a lot of players perform in the types of roles that setup creates. Can Sands, for example, function in a double pivot? What does Haji Wright look like as a target striker after appearing mostly as a winger with the US?
These are all important questions worth having answers to ahead of the World Cup.
Halftime! USA 1-1 Australia
Jordan Bos scored the first for Australia, before Haji Wright equalized for the US.
What are your thoughts on how things are going? As just a guy sitting in a room in New York City watching this, I’d love to know the view from Down Under.
45 min: Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Another hard challenge from behidn by Australia gets US players up in arms. This time it’s NYC FC man Aiden O’Neill, once a gain on James Sands.
Richards gets D’Agostino back for his earlier foul with a kick out of his own, after which the referee wisely blows the halftime whistle.
44 mins: A bit of a flashpoint here as Australia’s Nicholas D’Agostino flies in to James Sands with a tackle from behind. US players can’t believe a foul wasn’t called immediately and that no yellow was issued. D’Agostino got the ball, but it’s pretty clearly reckless.
Sands is slow to get up and gets som treatment on the sideline, but re-enters the game.
Reader Alistair chimes in with a much-appreciated correction/context to my point about Mauricio Pochettino and the Chick-fil-A quote earlier. It would appear that 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 mins: A chance! Cristian Roldan fires a long range shot from outside the box that bounces just wide.
Goal! USA 1-1 Australia (Wright 33′)
The US levels through Haji Wright! And a very nice finish it was. Weston McKennie put Wright through with a well-weighted ball, and Wright toe-poked it past Maty Ryan to make things 1-1 in Colorado.
30 mins: A shot! Tim Weah finds space on the left wing, cuts inside, and uncorks a beautiful long-range effort that curls to the far post but is saved nicely by Maty Ryan.
Also, Diego Luna is now in the game in place of Christian Pulisic.
28 mins: As feared, Pulisic will be coming off. He took two hard fouls in this game and Pochettino is pulling him, presumably at least partially to not incur the fiery wrath of the Milan sporting department.
Diego Luna looks set to come on for the US.
26 mins: Some wild back-and-forth play here, with Australia playing easily through the US midfield, only for the attack to fizzle with Nicholas D’Agostino in the penalty area. The US came right back with a Pulisic run up the gut, earning a yellow card after he was fouled. Once again, he stays down a bit after going down. You have to wonder how long he stays in the game at this point, considering he was carrying a knock heading in.
Goal! USA 0-1 Australia (Bos, 19′)
Alexander Abnos
Jordan Bos makes my previous update on Miles Robinson look very silly indeed. Off a throw-in Robinson turned off for a second just as the ball came to Bos, who took advantage of the space and attacked a strangely timid USMNT back line, then finished to the far post. That was a good goal for Australia, but a very bad look for the US as well.
18 min: Really impressive recovery run from Miles Robinson to snuff out an Australia attack. Those kinds of plays are why he can be such a useful defender for the US. Very few like him in the open field.
15 mins: Christian Pulisic goes down after heavy tackle, with his ankle getting caught underneath him as he fell. Slightly worrying but the US captain is up and appears to be moving fine.
8 mins: The US broadcast just recounted the story of Mauricio Pochettino posting the message “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” in the US locker room – a quote he took from the Chick-fil-A CEO who he sat down with earlier this year. He was apparently enthralled.
Anyway, about Chick-fil-A’s culture …
6 mins: Tim Weah is playing in the left wingback position, a spot he hasn’t occupied much if ever for the US, but a place he’s played plenty with Marseille after his offseason move from Juventus. Antonee Robinson won’t be available tonight as he continues to recover from knee surgery, but a solid Weah performance here could make him an option at Robinson’s spot should that injury issue continue unexpectedly.
Alexander Abnos
Question for readers
Who are you most interested in seeing tonight, and why? (Would love responses from either team’s fans!)
Let me know! My email/bluesky are above.
1 min: We are underway!
Alexander Abnos
After the Australian national anthem and an, uh, interesting rendition of the US counterpart, we are all set to go.
Alexander Abnos
The teams are heading out on to the field, which provides another reminder that Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado has one of the strangest player entrance paths I’ve seen. The players walk all the way from a separate clubhouse up a bunch of stairs at the far end of the field, and enter the field behind the goal on that side.
Nothing wrong with it, per se! Just weird.
Alexander Abnos
In case you missed it, the USMNT’s previous time out ended up going pretty well! Mauricio Pochettino stuck to the 3-at-the-back look and was rewarded with probably the best overall performance of his time in charge.
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 threatened today that he might move to take away World Cup games from Boston (and the Olympics from LA).
Does he have authority to do that unilaterally? Not really.
Alexander Abnos
Looking for a quick pregame read?
Might I suggest Mike Tuckerman’s great piece on how several Australians have found a home in Major League Soccer:
Australia’s starters
And here is Tony Popovic’s starting XI for the game against the US.
Maty Ryan captains the team, with a few changes from the Socceroos’ last game, a 1-0 win over Canada. The goal scorer from that game, Nestory Irankunda, starts on the bench.
The USMNT Starters
We have the home team’s lineup for the match.
The big news is that Christian Pulisic starts this game 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 clearly it’s not enough to keep him out of the XI today.
James Sands and Cristian Roldan are some other interesting additions, bot hof whom figure to occupy more defensive midfield positions behind Pulisic and Weston McKennie further up field.
Haji Wright gets the nod at 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 consistently in that position.
Based on personnel, this will nominally 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 all! Alexander Abnos here, ready to take you through … whatever this friendly ends up being. Any score predictions? Send ‘em my way on BlueSky or my email, which is above.
Alexander will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s a look at how Major League Soccer is proving a fertile ground for a growing band of Australian players and coaches.