Not Good: USMNT got destroyed by Japan in pre-World Cup friendly
The USMNT started the 2022 World Cup friendlies off in the worst way possible, by losing 2-0 to Japan.
We are still six weeks away until the actual World Cup begins. However, the pre-Cup matches are always critical for each country to evaluate their teams and finalize their rosters before the World Cup officially begins in November.
It’s worth noting that Christian Pulisic, and other potential stars in Tim Weah, Yunus Musah, Antonee Robinson, and Chris Richards all missed today’s match with minor injuries that should be nonexistent when the World Cup finally begins.
That was a highlight of today’s problems against Japan. Without Pulisic and Weah providing a vertical threat for the USMNT, head coach Gregg Berhalter opted for Gio Reyna and Brenden Aaronson as forwards, while both are basically attacking midfielders that aren’t used to stretching the pitch.
That should ease concerns slightly.
Still, Japan wasn’t exactly at full strength either and after all the hype surrounding the Americans heading into this year’s World Cup, today’s loss showed how far they are from actually being ready to compete on the world stage.
The United States shouldn’t be losing pre-World Cup matches to Japan. It’s really that simple, and all things considered, today’s match was a sloppy mess from the Americans as they failed to register a single shot on target.
Really, the only positive today was goalkeeper Matt Turner, who is the clear No. 1 option in net for the USMNT come November and kept today’s match from turning into a downright embarrassment.
Matt Turner – USMNT Brick Wall
Originally tweeted by U.S. Men's National Soccer Team (@USMNT) on September 23, 2022.
Matt Turner – USMNT Brick Wall (Again)
Originally tweeted by U.S. Men's National Soccer Team (@USMNT) on September 23, 2022.
Who knows what we’ll see over the next six weeks. Hopefully some improvement, but honestly, it’s hard to do much of anything with these awful kits that Nike rolled out for the World Cup.
I mean come on, they are the most boring jerseys ever and they reflected today’s pre-match perfectly.
Get it together boys.
USMNT International Friendlies Schedule
The USMNT will face Saudi Arabia (KSA) on September 27th at 2PM EDT in their second friendly match.
