USMNT youth shines again in contentious 4-2 win over Chile

Riding goals from Sebastian Berhalter, Julian Hall, Chris Richards and 17-year-old newcomer Mathis Albert, the US men’s national team beat Chile in St Louis on Tuesday night 4-2. The US were shaky at times but used a blend of regulars and newcomers to get the job done, with Albert becoming the youngest-ever goalscorer for the US men with his insurance goal in stoppage time, and Hall becoming the youngest US men’s player to score in each of his first two games.

The game ended with an example of the collective identity a young US group has managed to forge in their first World Cup window, minus major figures like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, and Folarin Balogun. When goalkeeper Brian Schwake fell on the ball as stoppage time ticked over, Chile forward Leandro Hernández left a kick in on the Nashville SC goalkeeper. Richards took exception, confronting Hernández, setting off a group confrontation that cleared both benches and saw US manager Mauricio Pochettino jump in to the middle of the fray to try and calm things down.

“We have each other’s back. We have 26 guys that are ready to be there at any moment,” Berhalter told TNT afterward. “When you do stuff like that, there’s gonna be repercussions.”

The 49th-ranked Chileans are far removed from their glory days, the stretch of years in the 2010s that saw them win back-to-back Copa Américas and advance to the knockout rounds of the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. Interim manager Nicolás Córdova has started the process of leading the Chileans through a generational turnover as they build towards 2030.

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On Tuesday, Córdova was without the services of Chile captain Gabriel Suazo, one of a pair of his players red carded in their brutally physical 1-0 loss to Canada last weekend. Still, they proved a tougher challenge for the US than Peru, whom the US beat 4-1 in the first match of the window three days earlier.

Berhalter’s goal came 37 minutes in and was well worked. Sergiño Dest’s combination play at the near sideline pulled several defenders out of position; Hall smartly stepped over Dest’s ensuing cross as it traversed the area and found the Middlesbrough midfielder 10 yards from goal. Berhalter – who was excellent throughout the evening and assisted on the match-winner from a corner kick – drove his effort low into the goal at the near post.

“He is a player that the commitment, the energy, everything he does is for the badge, for the national team, for the teammates,” Pochettino said. “He is a very good role model for the players that arrive the first time or maybe are watching from home, in the way we expect the players to behave. The quality he has – the delivery on set pieces, scoring goals, can play from the left, from the right, box to box or a holding midfielder, or like a No 10 from different positions. Always he’s happy to do anything for the national team. These things are priceless. To have a player like him is priceless.”

Hall was once again positioned well on his 51st-minute goal, rising above his defender 10 yards from goal to meet a Gio Reyna cross before sending a perfectly placed, glancing header towards the near post. As with Berhalter, it was the Red Bull New York forward’s second goal in as many games.

The US arrived in St Louis fresh off the dismantling of Peru, a match that saw 11 US players make their senior debut, just one shy of an all-time record. Pochettino made 10 changes from that match, and while Tuesday’s XI may have lacked the sheer youth of that group, it had no lack of debutants: goalkeeper Chris Brady made his first-ever start, as did Hall, Adri Mehmeti, Neil Pierre, Brooklyn Raines and Frankie Westfield.

Tuesday’s starters lacked polish at times – particularly while defending – with the US ceding the lion’s share of first-half chances to Chile. They lacked sharpness going forward, as well; 20 minutes in, Hall was sprung through clean on goal by Berhalter. The Red Bulls attacker rounded Chile keeper Lawrence Vigouroux and turned towards an open goal but couldn’t keep his angled attempt on frame from 12 yards out.

Brady looked shaky when asked to control proceedings in the penalty area and was saved by the crossbar twice in the first half. Berhalter’s goal came shortly thereafter.

Yet Chile answered just before half-time, off a corner kick which neither Brady (nor any US defender, for that matter) took command of, leading to a frantic goalline scramble. After several thwarted attempts, Chile defender Diego Ulloa finally found an opening in the madness and equalized. Brady was replaced by Schwake at half-time.

Just minutes into the second half, Chile struck again. Westfield badly misplayed a header in his own half, one which fortuitously fell at the feet of Maximiliano Gutiérrez, who sprinted forward and hit a bending effort around the outstretched arms of Schwake. Hall quickly equalized.

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In the 72nd minute, Richards found the winner when he met Berhalter’s brilliantly struck corner near the penalty spot, heading it home with authority. Albert’s effort came in stoppage time as he crashed goalwards and tapped the ball home off the crossbar; the game quickly devolved shortly afterwards into a shoving match.

On a night where US Soccer honored longtime USMNT captain Tim Ream’s retirement, Antonee Robinson wore the armband for the US. Pochettino said earlier in the week that he wants to waste little time in establishing Ream’s replacement as captain for the US’s push towards the 2030 World Cup, but he seemingly hasn’t decided yet; midfielder Tyler Adams got the nod against Peru.

The US will face a pair of even stronger opponents to close out this international window, traveling to Phoenix, Arizona to face Mexico on 3 October before facing Canada in St Paul, Minnesota three days later.