Americans Conclude the March International Window With Another Defeat
The United States closed out its March international window with another dispiriting result, falling 2-0 to Portugal in a friendly at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Tuesday—the country's eighth straight loss to European opposition.
Fresh off a 5-2 dismantling by Belgium just three days earlier, Mauricio Pochettino shuffled his lineup with six changes and made the bold call to deploy Christian Pulisic as a central striker, hoping the positional shift might jolt his star forward out of a prolonged scoring drought. It didn't work. Pulisic was subbed off at halftime, extending his scoreless streak to eight consecutive national team appearances. He hasn't found the back of the net for club side AC Milan since late December, either.
Francisco Trincão broke the deadlock before halftime, capitalizing after a midfield turnover that Bruno Fernandes turned into an assist. João Félix, who came on as a substitute, put the game away in the second half with a polished volley from outside the box off a set piece, a goal that underscored how much space the U.S. defense repeatedly surrendered.
It's worth noting that Portugal was missing both Cristiano Ronaldo, sidelined with injury, and Bernardo Silva, who wasn't included in Roberto Martinez's squad for the window. Yet the visitors still had more than enough quality to control large stretches of the match.
Goalkeeper Matthew Freese, starting ahead of Matt Turner, made several sharp saves to prevent the scoreline from getting worse. The result leaves plenty of uncertainty heading into the summer. Pochettino still has two more warm-up matches—against Senegal on May 31 and Germany on June 6—before the World Cup kicks off. The Americans open Group D play on June 12 against Paraguay in Inglewood, with Australia and Türkiye to follow.