It’s not all that often the US men’s national team tear apart a talented opponent with a global pedigree like they did to Ghana in Nashville on Tuesday night.
Yet if there’s anything that could please the team’s supporters more than the 4-0 scoreline, it might be the mentality reflected by Sergiño Dest’s remarks about the scoreless second half after the Yanks’ four-goal outburst in the first 40 minutes.
“Our concentration went down a little bit,” the PSV Eindhoven fullback told TNT on the network’s postgame show. “We were not as sharp as the first half. And I felt like we wanted it, but not as bad as the first half. So I feel like we should improve that and keep going in the second half as well, to smash teams, you know?”
Plenty of damage was imposed on their West African visitors just the same, via high pressing and transition moments as well as buildup play. And much of it was inflicted by Gio Reyna and Folarin Balogun, two elite attacking talents the program has been eager to spark into life.
With “Balo” leading the line with intelligent movement and combination play, Reyna drifting freely to dictate play as a classic No. 10, wingers Tim Weah and Christian Pulisic constantly menacing down the channels and fullbacks Dest and Kristoffer Lund pushing forward, the USMNT’s front line looked as dangerous as it has in months. Reyna, for his part, bagged his first international brace and broke a two-plus-year scoring drought for the Yanks.
“First half was amazing, I think everyone was going,” Weah, who tallied an assist and earned the penalty kick converted by Pulisic, told TNT. “When you have someone like Gio back and learning, I mean, his quality is amazing, he brings so much to the team. Everything just came together today.”
Balogun finds form
After the sobering disappointment of Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Germany in Connecticut, this was exactly the kind of performance the USMNT and their fans needed to restore some optimism at the close of the October international window – even if the Black Stars looked woeful, and unhappy, for long stretches.
Most impressive was the cohesion and cleverness of that front four.
“After the defeat against Germany, we spoke to each other,” Balogun told reporters in the postgame mixed zone at GEODIS Park, explaining the team’s resolve to up their levels. “I think the boys are still realizing what I can add to the game. And not all of it is in behind. I'm happy to receive the ball to my feet and link up with the players around me. So I think I was able to do that this game and as we showed, Ghana are a good side, but we managed to put the game away in the first half.
“It was really fluid today,” added the AS Monaco livewire. “I think I was involved a lot more, I felt involved a lot more. And as we were able to see in the first half, there were so many opportunities. We could have been five or six up. So we worked really well together, and it's just about continuing this, going back to the clubs, getting good games and just coming back here next camp and obviously improving on it.”
Balogun logged just 17 touches, and zero shots, in 66 minutes vs. Germany; even at that, he still notched an assist on Pulisic’s wondergoal, further underlining the value of the striker recruited away from England earlier this year. So the priority was clear heading into Tuesday’s match: “Create more. Get Balo the ball,” in Weah’s words.
Job done.
“You can tell guys were looking for him and that's the most important thing,” head coach Gregg Berhalter said of Balogun. “One of the best players I've ever coached with running behind the backline. And you need guys picking up on his runs, and you need guys brave enough to play the ball. And today you saw that. So I think that was a step forward for the team in terms of getting Balo on the ball, and you saw he was able to score, and could’ve had a couple more also.”
Reyna's back
A major key to unlocking Balogun’s quality was Reyna’s vision. The Borussia Dortmund wunderkind was a planned halftime sub in both of this month’s matches as the national team carefully measured the injury-prone creator’s health, and on Tuesday he made the most of that cameo, vindicating the wider tactical adjustments Berhalter made to fit Reyna into the starting XI.
“Gio got two goals [and] besides the goals, it was how he brings players into the attack, how he is able to be calm on the ball, gives us that calm and the poise that we need at times, but then is decisive when making final passes,” said Berhalter. “This performance was just an indicator of his entire camp. He had, as I said before, a very strong camp, great mindset, great training sessions.”
The coach has long shown a preference for a 4-3-3 shape with twin No. 8s and a lone holding midfielder in the center. While he urged all involved not to “get hung up on exactly what the formation looks like,” it appears he’s come to grips with the urgency of utilizing Reyna’s creative abilities, even if it requires a significant shift elsewhere, like Tuesday’s decision to move Weston McKennie to the bench.
“To me, it's not only offensive stuff that [Reyna] did tonight, it’s more what he did off the ball: I think relentless work. We talked about that before the game, relentless work rate defensively, and he certainly did that,” said Berhalter. “So I think it was a good step for us in midfield today. We went with two and then one, Gio a little bit higher. But I still think there's more to it, where it can be flexible and rotating more, and we'll continue to work on that.”
The USMNT will reconvene next month for the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals, where they will meet one of the four qualifiers from that competition’s just-completed opening phase, likely but not guaranteed to be Trinidad & Tobago. The Yanks will host the first leg on Nov. 16 at Austin FC’s Q2 Stadium.
Additional reporting was contributed by Ben Wright in Nashville.
