Hooligan Preview: USMNT vs. South Korea | OneFootball

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With all the ballyhoo, fingerpointing and general vitriol heaped upon the USMNT during the Gold Cup, the upcoming friendly tie against South Korea on Friday should be interesting. By interesting I mean not only the game itself, and the social media circus surrounding it.

Recent form for the USMNT (Source: Sofascore)

As one can see from the chart above, the USMNT hasn’t been great. The last six games cover June’s Gold Cup tournament, which the U.S. lost to Mexico. Prior to that were four straight losses. Very ouch.

Poch Calls in New Blood

Mauricio Pochettino made some tough decisions in selecting his camp this time around. From the Gold Cup roster, Matt Turner, Chris Brady, Mark McKenzie, Miles Robinson, Walker Zimmerman, John Tolkin, Quinn Sullivan were all dropped. Antonee Robinson is still not 100% after his May injury. Neither Aaronson brother (Brendan or Paxton) received a call. Since 2019 one, the other or both siblings have appeared on every USMNT roster with the exception of the March 2025 fixtures. Weston McKennie (with 60 caps), was also left off.

Anyone who follows the USMNT will recognize that this selection pattern is very characteristic of Poch’s style. He wants to see as many different faces before nailing down his 2026 World Cup side, and friendly matches like this provide that opportunity.

You can argue that McKennie and the Aaronsons are known commodities, but let’s be candid. With only 289 days left before the Cup kicks off, Poch should be picking his squad and using these matches to build cohesion. Instead, he’s parading around debutantes like it’s a cotillion.

The Current Roster

Here’s the current roster in the camp. We’ve also identified who we believe will be the starting eleven in bold.

Goalkeepers

New York City FC’s keeper Matt Freese will likely start, seeing as his backups Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati) and Jonathan Klinsmann (Cesena) each have zero caps.

Defenders

Among regular names like Chris Richards (Crystal Palace) and Tim Ream (Charlotte FC) are newer call-ups such as: Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew, who will start in midfield), Alex Freeman (Orlando City), Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union).

It’s good to see Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven) make his first appearance in seventeen months. He was sidelined by an ACL tear, and missed the Gold Cup due to fitness concerns.

Complete newbies with their first call-up include Noahkai Banks (FC Augsburg) and Tristan Blackmon (Vancouver Whitecaps). Yes, I believe Blackmon will get a start.

Midfielders

This group has earned plenty of experience in the red, white and blue: Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Luca de la Torre (San Diego FC), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Houston Dynamo). Sean Zawadzki (Columbus Crew), with a single cap, is the baby of the bunch.

I recognize that not starting Diego Luna sounds crazy, but I believe McGlynn will get the call tonight. Luna will start against Japan on the 9th.

Forwards

There is lots to unpack with this selection. Christian Pulisic (AC Milan) will be like an ant under a magnifying glass (with the supporters as the sun). He caught so much flak after he chose to rest and recuperate over the summer rather than play in the Gold Cup. Josh Sargent (Norwich) is red hot right now and nobody is questioning his inclusion.

Tim Weah (Marseille) and Alex Zendejas (Club América) are headscratchers. Good players, but neither are in top form. Zendejas in particular has been in a deep slump. Damion Downs (Southampton), who has five caps as a substitute, rounds out the group.

The Opposition

The Taeguk Warriors will present stiff competition for the Americans. Their team comprises players who ply their trade at some of the best European clubs, along with a real stylistic cohesion on the pitch. In their last five games, they lost to Japan 1 – 0, but won the other four by a combined score of 11 – 0.

There are a handful of evergreen players on their squad. Most famous of these is forward Son Heung-Min (LAFC). As they play with a single striker, Son will likely be replaced by Oh Hyeong-Yu (Genk). In the midfield, Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), Lee Jun-sang (FSV Mainz) and Park Yong-woo (Al-Ain) will get the nod. On the defensive line, only Lee Tae-seok (Austria Wein) and Seol Young-woo (Craven Zvezda) get consistent starts. Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan HD) will mind the goal.