The U.S. Men’s National Team closed its September-October international window with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Canada Tuesday night, completing a perfect four-game run. After scoring 11 goals in its first three matches, the young American team faced a different kind of challenge against Canada, one that demanded patience, resilience, physical toughness and defensive discipline.
They answered that challenge and finished the window with a perfect record of four wins (including two shutouts) and zero losses, and a growing sense that Mauricio Pochettino’s young squad is developing the depth and resilience needed to reach greater heights in the year’s ahead.
Justin Ellis’ 29th-minute goal gave the United States a 1-0 victory over Canada Tuesday night at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minnesota, completing a remarkable four-wins-in-four-games international window under Mauricio Pochettino. The USMNT finished the stretch with 12 goals, two shutouts and, perhaps most significantly, 13 players earning their first USMNT caps. Every single player that was called into this camp saw minutes, and nearly all debutants passed the test!
After demolishing Peru 4-1, beating Chile comfortably 4-2 and stunning Mexico 3-0, this was a very different test. Canada made the match physical from the opening whistle, disrupting the Americans’ rhythm and turning the contest into a stop-and-start battle. The two sides combined for 43 fouls, with Canada committing the greater majority of them. It seemed to be part of Canada coach Jesse Marsch’s game plan, with hard fouls affecting Justin Ellis and, later, Auston Trusty.
And yet, the United States found a way.
Ellis Goal the Difference
The decisive moment came in the 29th minute.
Just 8 minutes earlier, Ellis had taken a painful challenge and appeared to be limping badly. Leaving the field temporarily, the 19-year-old returned to the pitch, but continued with a noticeable limp. Then Alex Freeman and Malik Tillman combined beautifully to create the opening, with Freeman bursting forward and delivering a dangerous ball into the box.
Ellis, operating through the pain, stretched to redirect Freeman’s cross past Canadian goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair.
1-0 USA.
It was Ellis’ second international goal of the window and his second in only three USMNT appearances. He was substituted at halftime, but his combination of courage, perseverance, and finishing instinct made him the official Man of the Match.
Canada nearly answered, but Brian Schwake produced the save of the night. Making his first international start, the Nashville SC goalkeeper reacted brilliantly to push a dangerous effort from Luc de Fougerolles onto the crossbar. Schwake ultimately finished with three saves and his first USMNT clean sheet.
Following Diego Kochen’s own clean sheet in his first start against Mexico, Pochettino now finds himself with 2 promising young keepers to battle for the starter position, after a post-World Cup low where options appeared limited in a traditionally strong USMNT position (e.g. Tony Meola, Tim Howard, Brad Friedel, Kasey Keller, etc).
Freeman Continues to Rise
If Ellis provided the headline, Alex Freeman may have been the most impressive American over 90 minutes.
While he didn’t get the official Man of the Match honors, he was clearly the most impactful player over 90 minutes. The 22-year-old fullback delivered the assist, repeatedly pushed forward and defended aggressively. He won most of his duels with Canada’s Jacob Shaffelburg, who, days earlier scored 2 goals against Peru. His willingness to attack while remaining disciplined defensively has become one of the most encouraging developments of this young USMNT cycle.
Of all US players, he has had the most meteoric rise in the last year and a half under coach Pochettino. Just a couple of years ago, he was getting his first minutes with Orlando City. Now he is starting for Villereal in the Spanish La Liga, and has become indispensable lock-in starter for Pochettino’s defense. Having started an incredible 25 straight games for the USMNT, he has supplanted Sergino Dest at the right back position, and looking more and more like a superstar defender in the making.
Gio Reyna also turned in an encouraging performance in midfield, this time being asked to operate deeper in the double-pivot with newcomer Brooklyn Raines, while Malik Tillman once again demonstrated why Pochettino views him as a central piece of the team’s future.
Following Reyna, Raines, and Ellis’ halftime substitutions, the second half became increasingly choppy and defensive. Julian Hall, having come in for Ellis and riding a 3-game scoring streat, had an excellent opportunity to double the lead on a breakaway but barely missed the target, shooting on the wrong side of the side netting. On the other side, Canada generated pressure without finding the finish it needed.
Pochettino responded with a series of substitutions, eventually giving Cole Campbell his first senior international appearance, thus completing the debuts for all first-time players in this camp. By the final whistle, all 28 players on the roster had received at least one cap during the four-match window.
That may ultimately be the biggest story of the night.
USMNT Player Ratings
| Player | Rating | Assessment |
| Brian Schwake | 8.0 | Excellent first start. Three saves, including a huge stop onto the crossbar, and a clean sheet. |
| Alex Freeman | 8.5 | Man of the Match contender. Assist, aggressive attacking runs and excellent defensive work. |
| Chris Richards | 7.5 | Calm captain who helped organize the back line and manage Canada’s pressure. Looks slightly less assured in the left-side Center-Back role, but had a professional performance. |
| George Campbell | 6.5 | Excellent defensive block inside the six-yard box and showed growing confidence. Still has a tendency to over-dribble, which can be a problem against top-tier opponents. |
| Auston Trusty | 7.0 | Solid defensively and strong in the air before departing in the 74th minute. A strong challenge by Jonathan David in the 60th minute clearly affected him, as he was blind-sided with a hit to the head. |
| Brooklyn Raines | 6.5 | A serviceable back-up to Tyler Adams at the 6, but still needs time to mature and link better with his teammates. Didn’t particularly combine well with Reyna, but was composed as both distributor and ball-winner. |
| Yunus Musah | 5.5 | Showed flashes of his athleticism but never fully influenced the match. Seemed less comfortable and effective out wide than he did in the center of the field earlier in this International Window. |
| Gio Reyna | 7.0 | Worked hard and helped maintain possession and build from the back. But he was least influential in this match out of his 4 starts, failing to create many attacking opportunities before subbing of at halftime. |
| Malik Tillman | 7.5 | Active throughout the midfield and instrumental in the buildup to Ellis’ goal. |
| Mathis Albert | 6.0 | Quiet evening on the left but gained valuable experience in his first start. He seemed unable to beat his man off the dribble, and was therefore unable to affect the game. |
| Justin Ellis | 8.5 | Man of the Match. Played through injury and scored the winning goal. Incredible grit and determination. |
| Sergiño Dest | 5.0 | Provided experience after halftime but had limited opportunity to influence the game. Continued a troubling trend of too many giveaways off the dribble. |
| Sebastian Berhalter | 6.5 | Helped stabilize the midfield after halftime, but was less influential than any of his previous matches. |
| Julian Hall | 6.5 | Dangerous movement and one good opportunity, but couldn’t finish it. |
| Tyler Adams | 6.5 | Brought energy and defensive bite after entering in the 61st minute. Help see the game out and early a hard-fought result. |
| Cole Campbell | 6.0 | A decent debut; showed flashes of attacking ability despite limited minutes. |
| Adri Mehmeti | NR | Too little time to make a major impact. |
| Neil Pierre | NR | Limited cameo as Pochettino protected the lead. |
| Antonee Robinson | NR | Brief appearance and helped close out the match defensively. |
Mauricio Pochettino — 8.5/10
Pochettino deserves enormous credit for this window.
He rotated aggressively, trusted teenagers and young prospects, introduced 13 debutants, and still produced four victories with zero losses. Against Canada, who had fresher legs having played one less game, he recognized that this wasn’t going to be a pretty possession game and managed the second half accordingly.
More importantly, Pochettino has created something that didn’t exist a few months ago: true depth and competition for roster and starter spots.
Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun, Weston McKennie, Ricardo Pepi, and Haji Wright weren’t part of the camp. Tim Ream has officially retired from international soccer. Rather than collapse without established stars, the United States discovered Ellis, Hall, Sullivan, Albert, Kochen, Schwake and others.
That is exactly what the start of a new World Cup cycle is supposed to be about.
The 1-0 win over Canada wasn’t impressive because of pretty passes or goals. But it was impressive nonetheless.
Playing in their 4th game in 12 days, the young US team showed grit, determination, and resilience. The performance, on tired legs, was mature and professional, and it gave Pochettino the perfect ending to a perfect fall window.
And it gave US fans a lot of reason for optimism.
