90min
·12 September 2023
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Yahoo sports90min
·12 September 2023
After triumphing 3-0 over Uzebkistan on Saturday, the US men's national team are back in action against Oman in another international friendly at Allianz Field in St Paul, Minnesota.
Although the 3-0 scoreline looked flattering on paper for the US, the performance was far from that in head coach Gregg Berhalter's first game back in the dugout. Tim Weah scored inside the first five minutes of the game to give the Americans the lead, but they were unable to build upon it until stoppage time when Christian Pulisic and substitute Ricardo Pepi added a goal each to seal the win.
Just as it was the first meeting between the Stars and Stripes and Uzbekistan, the friendly against Oman will also be the first time the two countries meet at the international level. The game will be the US' final of the international break, while it will be the first and last for Oman.
Berhalter confirmed on Monday that Ethan Horvath would be starting in between the sticks as Matt Turner left the US camp as he and his partner are expecting the birth of their second child. It will be Horvath's ninth appearance at the international level for the US.
Defender Joe Scally also left camp due to personal reasons and DeJuan Jones, who shined for USA at the 2023 Gold Cup, has been included in the squad but will find it hard to earn the starting nod over Antonee Robinson as left-back.
Berhalter also explained that it's likely we'll see a similar lineup to the one that defeated Uzbekistan. But could there be a chance that a couple of players will get a chance in the lineup after the poor showing against Uzbekistan?
There's a good chance that the Stars and Stripes will produce a similar scoreline like the one against Uzbekistan - but Berhalter will hope that the performance will be much improved with more goals and better overall play earlier in the game.
The likes of Pulisic and Folarin Balogun should have plenty of chances to get on the scoresheet for the US and propel them to victory, as Berhalter's side will be too much Oman to handle.