Leeds United World Cup woes persist as Aaronson overlooked, USA seal knockout place | OneFootball

Brenden Aaronson went unused as the USA beat Australia 2-0 to clinch top spot, extending Leeds United’s World Cup frustrations.

He also stayed on the bench in the 4-1 win over Paraguay, despite Mauricio Pochettino changing his entire front line. As reported by yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk, three of Leeds’ four players have had a testing start.

With Christian Pulisic injured, Ricardo Pepi started. The USA led on 11 minutes when Folarin Balogun’s cross was turned in by Cameron Burgess. Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie impressed in midfield.

Alex Freeman doubled the lead just before half-time, heading into an empty net after a deflected Sergino Dest shot. The effort was initially flagged offside, then awarded following VAR.

Australia offered little after the break and the USA saw it out. Pochettino again removed his main attackers but Aaronson was overlooked, with Giovanni Reyna, Haji Wright and Sebastian Berhalter preferred.

Top spot secured, they face Türkiye on Friday June 26, when Pochettino might rotate before the knockouts, which could hand Aaronson a chance.

Of the Leeds contingent, only Gabriel Gudmundsson has featured, playing just over an hour in Sweden’s 5-1 win against Tunisia last week. Noah Okafor and Ao Tanaka are yet to appear, with Okafor twice among the substitutes.

Sweden and Japan play tonight, against the Netherlands and Tunisia respectively. Gudmundsson is expected to start again, and it remains to be seen whether Tanaka features, with more possession anticipated than in last week’s draw with the Dutch, which could improve his chances.

Source: yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk