USMNT Conclude 2025 With Dominant Win Over Uruguay
A strong opening half led the U.S. to victory on Tuesday.
Mauricio Pochettino and the United States Men’s National Team wrapped up the November international window Tuesday night when they took the field inside Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium to take on Uruguay. It was a successful outing as the United States secured a 5-1 victory.
Pochettino made nine changes from the lineup that secured a 2-1 win over Paraguay on Saturday. Matt Freese started in goal behind the back three of Mark McKenzie, Auston Trusty, and Sergiño Dest. Alex Freeman and John Tolkin were out wide, as Sebastian Berhalter and Aidan Morris played centrally in the midfield quartet. Diego Luna, Haji Wright, and Timothy Tillman formed the attacking trio.
A free kick opportunity just outside the box paid dividends for the United States in the 17th minute. It started with Berhalter standing over the ball just to the left of the box. He restarted play with a short pass to Luna that saw forward pass it right back. Berhalter one-timed Luna’s pass and curled it perfectly to the upper-right corner to the net his first international goal and gave the U.S. an early lead.
The United States’ set-piece success shone again in the 20th minute when a corner kick led to Berhalter curling the ball to the far post, where it found the head of a leaping Freeman. The outside back put all his might into the header as he drove it past Cristopher Fiermarin and in to double the lead!
The United States’ dominant opening half continued in the 31st minute when a Uruguay turnover led to Freeman gaining possession and driving right at goal. Despite pressure from the Uruguay defense, Freeman stood tall and pushed forward before slotting the ball past Fiermarin to net his second goal of the evening and increase the U.S. lead to three.
Just as it looked as if the U.S. would walk into halftime unscathed, things changed in stoppage time. It started when confusion between Freese, McKenzie, and Freeman led to Uruguay getting on the ball inside the box. After a series of headers inside the box, the ball fell to Giorgian De Arrascaeta, who executed an incredible overhead kick and drilled the ball into the net to shrink the deficit to three.
Uruguay’s Rodrigo Bentancur was the recipient of the game’s first booking as he received a yellow card in the 50th minute following a harsh tackle on John Tolkin.
The United States’ first change came in the 61st minute when Folarin Balogun, Tanner Tessmann, and Gio Reyna replaced Wright, Dest, and Luna.
Uruguay’s night only got worse in the 65th minute when Bentancur laid a harsh challenge on Berhalter that led to referee Julio Luna issuing Bentancur a straight red card.
The U.S. onslaught continued in the 68th minute as Tessmann got on the end of a ball from Reyna and headed it home to stretch the lead to four.
Two more changes came in the 75th minute as Brendan Aaronson and Max Arfsten replaced Tillman and Tolkin. Poch’s final change came in the 87th minute when Christian Roldan replaced Morris.
Outside of Uruguay’s lone goal, it was a mostly solid outing by the United States, who wrap up 2025 with a commanding 5-1 win over Marcelo Bielsa and Uruguay.
With 2025 in the rearview mirror, the U.S. now turns its attention to a crucial few months of preparation ahead of next summer’s FIFA World Cup on home soil.