Giov Reyna made his return to the U.S. men’s national team with a goal and an assist on Folarin Balogun’s game-winner in their victory over Paraguay on Saturday night at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania.
November marks the final window for international friendlies, making it also crunch time for players to impress head coach Mauricio Pochettino as spots for the World Cup team are still up for grabs.
The Americans entered the game in a 3-4-2-1 formation, with the coach making eight changes from their October game against Australia.
It didn’t take long for the U.S. to open the scoring, as after four minutes into the contest, Reyna found the back of the net. A corner kick from Max Arfsten was poorly cleared by the Paraguayans. However, the Columbus Crew left-back regained possession of the ball a delivered a cross for the Borussia Monchengladbach to head past goalkeeper Orlando Gill.
That lead was canceled out six minutes later when Alex Arce scored his own header. A pass from over the top found Miguel Almiron on the left side, and his cross gave the striker a chance to put his attempt past Matt Freese.
The U.S. remained in attack mode in the second half as Pochettino made a few changes in personnel to find another goal. Sergino Dest had a good chance in the 66th minute when his left-footed strike from the edge of the area went over the crossbar.
The team was rewarded for the game-winner in the 71st minute when Diego Luna forced a Paraguayan player to turnover the ball, allowing Reyna to play a little 1-2 pass with Balogun. The midfielder’s cross from the left had a deflection from a defender, but it gave the Monaco forward a great chance to score.
With the momentum shifting towards the World Cup co-host, there was a chance to extend their lead in the 78th minute when Luna dribbled the ball down the left flank. His cross got past Paraguay’s backline for Ricardo Pepi to score at a wide-open goal, but his shot was blocked by a defender in the end.
Paraguay made a final push to level the score in the 90th minute when Almiron played the ball to his teammate, Blas Riveros, on the left side. The left-back was able to get past Aidan Morris in the 18-yard box to deliver the ball across the goal that nearly became an own goal as the deflection off Arfsten went wide.
Tension between the two teams boiled over in stoppage time when Alex Freeman and Gustavo Gomez fought over a ball out of play, leading to both benches coming together to fight. However, the referee let things go in the end as the U.S. sealed the win.
The U.S will now head to Tampa, Florida, as they face Uruguay at Raymond James Stadium on Tuesday.
