United States Opens 2025 With Victory Over Venezuela
2025 started on a good note for Pochettino and the US thanks to a flurry of goals.
Mauricio Pochettino and the United States took the pitch for the first time in 2025 on Saturday when they hosted Venezuela inside Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Saturday’s lineup featured some familiar faces to New England as former Revolution defender DeJuan Jones, former Western Massachusetts Pioneers player Patrick Agyemang, and former Boston Bolts player Miles Robinson featured in Pochettino’s matchday squad.
The United States wasted no time getting things going. After a series of passes, Matko Miljevic sent a ball upfield to Agyemang who attempted to run onto the ball, but it had too much pace as Wuliker Farinez came off his line to scoop it up. The craziness continued in the second minute when Venezuea’s Daniel Pereira chopped Agyemang down inside the box as the referee pointed to the spot just 90 seconds into the match.
After waving Jack McGlynn off, Miljevic stepped to the spot looking to get his U.S. debut off to a hot start. Miljevic attempted to slot the penalty to the right side of the net, but Farinez tracked Miljevic’s penalty to make the save and keep the game scoreless.
The United States broke the deadlock in the 37th minute thanks to McGlynn. After receiving Caden Clark’s pass, McGlynn rocketed a curling shot to the upper-right side of the net from a sizable distance that evaded the reach of a diving Farinez and crashed into the net to give the US a 1-0 lead.
Agyemang wasted no time finding a second goal for the U.S. After sliding in to dispossess Miljevic, Anthony Graterol’s tackle led to the ball ricocheting off Miljevic and upfield to Agyemang, who got onto it and drove toward the net. While Agyemang’s attempt to slot the ball through Farinez’s five-hole deflected off the keeper, it had enough pace to cross the line and propel the United States to a 2-0 lead just before halftime.
After coming up short on the early penalty kick, Miljevic redeemed himself in the 64th minute when he received Jack McGlynn’s cross from the left flank, settled it, and drilled the ball into the back of the net to give the US a 3-0 lead!
Poch made four changes at the 65-minute mark. Emeka Eneli, Brain White, Diego Luna, and Jones replaced Max Arfsten, Benjamin Creamaschi, Matko Miljevic, and Patrick Agyemang. Another change for the U.S. came in the 73rd minute when Indiana Vassilev came on to replace Brian Gutierez.
Despite coming up empty-handed on the penalty to open the game, the United States remained committed as they began 2025 with a 3-1 victory over Venezuela. Pochettino and the U.S. will wrap up the January cycle on Wednesday, January 22 when they face Costa Rica inside Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando at 7:00 PM ET.
Miljevic's penalty shot was terrible. Yeah, he scored later but Jack would have at least had a better shot. That looked like someone who never took a penalty kick before.