The US national team turned the page on their World Cup qualifying disappointment with a 1–1 benefit friendly draw away to reigning European champions Portugal on Tuesday night.
Thanks to a highly encouraging debut performance from Weston McKennie and some stifling high pressure, the underdog visitors had the upper hand during the game's opening half-hour. Portugal then grabbed a measure of control of the proceedings, but a young USMNT side scrambled to close out the solid result.
Ethan Horvath (2.5) – The Club Brugge man's major gaffe gifted Portugal an equalizer. Horvath simply approached the tricky whip from the flank all wrong. He also was guilty of a poorly-conceived throw up the middle, but suddenly came to life to make a few plays in the final five minutes of the half.
DeAndre Yedlin (5.5) – In the opening 30 stages, Yedlin was rather sloppy in the US end. After that, he turned up his defensive focus and turned into a raiding menace. It's shame his centering feeds didn't match the level of his surges down the flank.
Matt Miazga (7.5) – Though his passing was too spotty, the Vitesse center back was the picture of proactive strength in shutting down numerous Portugal rushes. Aside from the unnecessary push foul that wiped out a US goal, this is the Miazga we need going forward.
John Anthony Brooks (7) – The Wolfsburg defender is at his best when he stays cool. Brooks was calm as could be at the back in this one, but we didn't see any of his incisive ball movement.
Eric Lichaj (7) – The righty-turned-left back was impressively steady moving all along his flank during an hour of work. Lichaj could have been much more accurate with his positive pass attempts, but he did bust into the area to draw a save.
Danny Williams (6.5) – The defensive midfielder was quietly solid for the most part. He anchored a US midfield that was incredibly difficult to get through in the first half.
Kellyn Acosta (6) – The young FC Dallas ace had a roller-coaster first half, but became far more vigilant defensively after the break. Acosta's restart serves were all over the place, but a couple were real beauties to set up chances.
Weston McKennie (8) – How good was that, eh? The Schalke kid did a little bit of everything in his debut, up to and including the shoulder shimmy that gained space needed for his first US goal. A sterling ball-hawking display saw McKennie ring up 19 total defensive stops (!!), including six forced turnovers in high pressure.
Tyler Adams (7) – The other teen debutant in the line-up took a while to get revved up, and then made a variety of hustle plays, both on and off the ball. In the second half, Adams set Yedlin to running for some threatening advances.
Juan Agudelo (5.5) – The New England attacker was miscast on the wing, and he largely failed to turn runs to the corner into penetration. Agudelo's best move of the night was his last, setting up the previously mentioned Lichaj half-chance.
CJ Sapong (7) – The outstanding level of physical fight offered by Sapong repeatedly put the team into good attack situations. He also came up with a couple of good passes on the run, one being the assist on McKennie's strike.
Subs
Bill Hamid (6) – The halftime sub made a couple comfy saves, and got a little help from the woodwork.
Cameron Carter-Vickers (6.5) – Though not tested too often, the Sheffield United loan defender won with a couple of message-sending challenges and supported possession well.
Lynden Gooch (6.5) – The left wing sub authored a few live-wire episodes working the corner.
Jorge Villafana (6) – The Santos Laguna left back could have been cleaner with the ball, but his defensive positioning stood out like it hadn't in recent caps.
Dom Dwyer (-) – The Orlando City striker was barely involved in 13 minutes.
Alejandro Bedoya (-) – A mere cameo.
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