The questions facing the U.S. men's national team this year are many. IN disastrous Nations League final in March: Where was the fight? Where was cuteness? On the short summer list: Where it was obligation from the best players on the team? How deep is this team?Really? And head coach Mauricio Pochettino is always asking: where is the signature victory?
Following Tuesday's 5-1 rout of Uruguay in Tampa, Florida, a new question will be added: Please, can you World Championship start tomorrow?
United States, making nine changes from Saturday confident victory 2-1 over Paraguay, however, were rampant for the first 45 minutes of Tuesday night. Midfielder Sebastian Berhalter struck first from a set-piece before setting up right-back Alex Freeman from a corner to double the lead. Freeman then scored a superb team goal, dribbling past two Uruguay defenders to score Team USA's third goal. Diego Luna ended the flurry with a smart cutback finish.
Pochettino, for his part, was not going to get carried away. As this team floundered, the Argentine insisted that positive results were good but not necessary, at least not in friendlies. And after the break, with his team, which was without many of Pochettino's key players, leading 4-1 over one of the best teams in the world, he again said on TNT that the result did not matter. His main concern seemed to be that the US had allowed Uruguay way back into the game – in the 44th minute, Uruguayan international Georgian de Arrasqueta struck the woodwork with a powerful effort before taking advantage of the American scramble in his own penalty area to score with an impressive acrobatic bicycle kick.
It was an exclamation point after a terrible first half for Marcelo Bielsa's side, who hardly ever shifted into second gear. Although, to be honest, they were shocked by Berhalter's first blow.
After Haji Wright earned a free-kick just outside the left edge of the box, Berhalter put his set-piece experience, which he consistently demonstrated in MLS, to good use on the international stage. The Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder passed the ball to Sergiño Dest, who returned the cross to Berhalter's right foot and he beat goalkeeper Christopher Fiermarin with an exquisite strike to open the scoring in the 15th minute. It was Berhalter's first goal for the national team – something his father, former USMNT head coach Gregg, never did during his 44-game playing career as a centre-back.
From then on it was Freeman's show for a while. Berhalter struck the head of Orlando City's promising youngster at the far post to double the Americans' lead in the 20th minute, but it was the United States' third goal that was truly special. After a strong and smart tackle in midfield by Timmy Tillman late and a clever forward pass from Auston Trusty, Freeman collected the ball and ran straight into the Uruguay defence, turning two defenders inside out before finishing delicately in the 31st.
Tillman's great work continued. Towards the end of the first half, the LAFC midfielder found acres of space in the center of the Uruguay defence, giving him time to look up as the defenders converged. He played the ball to the attacking Luna, who made no mistake to make it 4–0.
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The shock was palpable in the stadium, on the airwaves, and likely in the hearts and minds of American fans. The team, largely made up of players who were part of the World Cup squad, dominated Uruguay's best player, who was rarely close to his U.S. opponent – even more so after Rodrigo Betancourt's 64th-minute red card for a heavy tackle on Berhalter.
This is the kind of victory that Pochettino has long craved – a victory in which the result and the performance coincide with devastating effect. Perhaps the only drawback is that there are still 206 days until the opening of the World Cup.
