Mexico arrived at the Estadio Akron ready to fight the United States men’s national team on Tuesday, and the Yanks turned up a bit too friendly for the friendly in a 2-0 loss.
[ MORE: Mexico 2-0 USMNT recap & video highlights ]
Mauricio Pochettino’s men were injury- and absence-depleted, yes, but also bossed around the pitch. If he needed a reality check about depth in the player pool, he got one.
Folarin Balogun, Timothy Weah, Johnny Cardoso, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Chris Richards, Giovanni Reyna, Luca de la Torre, and Tyler Adams all missed the international break with injuries.
[ ICYMI: USMNT 2-0 Panama | Player ratings ]
Then Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Marlon Fossey, Ricardo Pepi, and Zack Steffen were sent back to their clubs for load management after Saturday’s 2-0 win over Panama. And Mark McKenzie was injured in Tuesday’s warm-ups.
How did the remaining players do? Not great. Let’s get stuck into some player ratings.
USMNT player ratings versus Mexico (out of 10)
Matt Turner: 6.5 — Three saves. Couldn’t do anything about either Mexico goal.
Antonee Robinson (Off HT): 5 — Busy and bright going forward but he struggled with his footing and passing on a substandard pitch.
Tim Ream: 5 — No one touched the ball more than Ream, but one of those touches was a naive one in his box that was slid away by Raul Jimenez for an assist.
Miles Robinson: 7 — Led the game in defensive actions, interceptions, and clearances. Not bad for a player who wasn’t starting until Mark McKenzie felt a groin injury in warm-ups. Bad giveaway helped produce a Mexican goal, though.
Joe Scally: 5 — Decent going forward but not so much in his own end.
Aidan Morris (Off 83'): 5.5 — Certainly wasn’t poor and played with grit, but the midfield was the Yanks’ weakness on Wednesday and he was there for almost all of it.
Gianluca Busio (Off 62'): 6 — Credited with a pair of blocked shots, a game-high at the time of his exit. Won six-of-seven duels in an admirable display despite this physical match-up not being his calling card.
Yunus Musah (Off HT): 5.5 — Deprived of the ball on the right side, and was a bit better when dragged inside before being removed for Zendejas at the break.
Brenden Aaronson: 6 — Lost the ball a handful of times and struggled to turn his energy into anything but jagged edges over the first hour (maybe more). But kept grinding and was stuck into an astounding 20 duels, winning 10. He was credited with three created chances and his last 20 minutes or so was a welcome display and showed excellent resolve.
Malik Tillman (Off 63'): 6 — Struggled with his passing but was very busy and up for the fight.
Josh Sargent (Off 63'): 5.5 — Starved of the ball, he at least fought for the few scraps that came his way. Thirteen touches in 63 minutes is not his fault, but oof.
SUBS
Alex Zendejas (On HT): 6 — Showed passion but failed to win duels.
Kristoffer Lund (On HT): 6.5 — Played solid defense but whiffed on a cross-shot that was the Yanks’ best chance.
Tanner Tessmann (On 62'): 6.5 — Brought some bite and decent passing to the midfield.
Brandon Vazquez (On 63'): 6.5 — Got off three shots in limited minutes.
Haji Wright (On 63'): 5.5 — Less than 10 touches on the night.
Auston Trusty (On 83'): — N/A