U.S. Suffers Gutting Defeat in Nashville
Things went horridly for the U.S. as their losing streak stretches to four.
Following a disappointing 2-1 loss to Türkiye on Saturday, Mauricio Pochettino and the United States Men’s National Team returned to action Tuesday evening as they faced Switzerland inside Nashville’s Geodis Park.
Tuesday’s match saw Poch make nine changes to the lineup from Saturday. Matt Turner returned in goal behind the backline of Max Arfsten, Mark McKenzie, Walker Zimmerman, and Nathan Harriel. Sebastian Berhalter and Johnny Cardoso sat deep in the midfield while Quinn Sullivan, Brendan Aaronson, and Paxten Aaronson were higher up. Brian White served as the lone attacker up top.
Tuesday saw Brendan and Paxten become the eighth set of brothers to take the field for the United States. It marked the first time that’s occurred since Kevin and Steve Snow played in 1988.
A deflected pass led to disaster for the United States 13 minutes into the match. Ardon Jashari attempted to pass the ball, but it deflected off Johnny Cardoso and fell into the path of Dan Ndoye, who slotted it past Turner to give Switzerland an early 1-0 lead.
The U.S. nearly found an equalizer in the 15th minute thanks to a free-kick opportunity just outside the box. Sebastian Berhalter went straight for the left side of goal, but Gregor Kobel got his hands to the ball and pushed it away.
Things went from bad to worse in the 23rd minute when a long ball fell to Johan Manzambi who cut centrally and tiptoed along the goal line before slotting the ball to Michel Aebischer, who tapped the ball into the net to give Switzerland a 2-0 lead.
Switzerland’s 23rd-minute strike marked the first time the U.S. had conceded two goals in the first half in back-to-back matches since 2013.
Arfsten came up big in the 30th minute to prevent Switzerland’s lead from increasing. After a long diagonal ball, Breel Embolo found himself one-on-one with Turner. While Embolo took an awkward touch on the ball, Arfsten turned on the jets and got himself between Embolo’s shot and the goal to deflect it away from danger.
After coming up short moments before, Embolo found the back of the net in the 34th minute. It started with Ricardo Rodriguez pushing upfield and rocketing a shot goalward that Turner laid out to save. Despite making the save, Turner deflected the ball into a pocket of space inside the box and Embolo darted onto the loose ball and tapped it in to put Switzerland up 3-0.
A poor turnover led to further disaster for the U.S. in the 36th minute. Ardon Jashari stepped up to intercept the ball at midfield before cutting it to Manzambi who worked his way past the U.S. defense and rocketed a shot to the upper-right corner of the net to give Switzerland a 4-0 lead.
Sullivan came close to shrinking the deficit in the 44th minute when he got onto the ball and pushed up the right flank before attempting to lob a cross to White. It looked poised to fall to White, but Kobel leaped high and got a hold of the ball.
Pochettino made five changes before the start of the second half. John Tolkin, Malik Tillman, Diego Luna, Patrick Agyemang, and Tim Ream replaced Arfsten, Sullivan, Paxten Aaronson, White, and Brendan Aaronson. The 75th minute also saw Damion Downs make his USMNT debut as he replaced Sebastian Berhalter.
Malik Tillman’s free kick in the 88th minute led to a golden chance as it fell right to the head of Johnny Cardoso, who unfortunately whipped a header wide of goal.
Despite an improved outing in the second half, the U.S. was unable to generate much as they ended the match with zero shots on target as they suffered their fourth consecutive loss. It marks the first time the U.S. has lost four straight since 2007.
The U.S. will look to overcome their recent struggles when they begin the group stage of the Concacaf Gold Cup tournament on Sunday when they play Trinidad & Tobago in San Jose.
Yikes.