USMNT Recap: Halftime Haji Wright Saves U.S. Concacaf Nations League Hopes
The U.S. is headed back to the finals
The U.S. Men’s National Team will return to the Concacaf Nations League Finals as they defeated Jamaica on Thursday evening 3-1.
Former New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner earned his 39th cap while Antonee Robinson, Miles Robinson, Chris Richards, and Joe Scally made up the back line. Malik Tillman, Weston McKennie, and Yunus Musah were the midfield trifecta. Folarin Balogun was Gregg Berhalter’s No. 9 flanked by Christian Pulisic and Tim Weah.
It was a nightmare start for the USMNT as less than two minutes into the game as a turnover in the own third turned into a Bobby Reid cross to the back post that found Gregory Leigh for an early goal.
The marking from Scally was poor but fans would have liked to see Turner make the save. With the pressure the goalkeeper is facing at club and country, he needs to start putting in better performances.
For large swaths of the first half, the U.S. was chasing the game. They struggled to take advantage of attacking chances and played some sloppy soccer.
There wasn’t really any standout positive performances but Pulisic, Musah, McKennie, and Balogun. Considering that makes up the majority of the USMNT’s attacking unit, it’s not surprising that the Stars and Stripes struggled.
Berhalter’s squad was able to get bodies in the box at times but crosses from the likes of Scally failed to regularly find his teammates. The best chance came in the 45th minute as Weah found Tillman making a trailing run across the center of the box but the PSV midfielder had his shot blocked by a Jamaican defender.
With an early lead, Jamaica was fine sitting back but they were also able to operate well on the counter and built possession. It was basically a dream start for the Reggae Boyz even though the U.S. won the possession battle in the first 45 minutes (81 percent - 19 percent).
It was clear that Berhalter understood that changes to be made as Gio Reyna replaced Scally. With Reyna on the pitch and replacing a defender, McKennie slotted back into Scally’s right back position.
More changes came in the 63rd minute as Tyler Adams, Ricardo pepi, and Haji Wright replaced Balogun, Weah, and Musah. Wright was a much needed breath of fresh air up top as he instantly was able to create some chances.
The USMNT made its final sub in the 75th minute as Brenden Aaronson replaced Malik Tillman.
For the last 10 minutes, it was an all out attack for the United States. Bodies were thrown forward in a desperate attempt to level the score. Ricardo Pepi had the best chance in the 90th minute but he failed to get one past Andre Blake.
In the final kick of the match, with fans booing the USMNT and defeat looking certain, a corner was sent into the box and Miles Robinson got a touch and the ball ended up deflecting off a Jamaican player and into the net.
The USMNT would get its first lead in the 97th minute as Gio Reyna sent a beautiful chip pass to Wright who was able to sneak it past Blake. Wright and Reyna would connect again in the 110th minute as Wright secured a brace.
Now the U.S. will await the winner of Mexico vs Panama.