9 September 2019
We needed to continue our winning form, and we would need to continue it against the Dominican Republic. We were heavy favorites, but after days of travelling, away from home and after a tough game against Peru, anything could happen.
It would also be the first game of our Nations League campaign. We would make two changes as Lletget, who scored the winning goal against Peru, got rewarded for how he played in the Peru game as a substitute. Lletget would replace Darlington Nagbe.
The second change is in defence as John Brooks won’t be lining up against Matt Hedges, but would instead play alongside Matt Besler. Despite being important coming off the bench in the Peru game, Gyasi Zardes, who won the penalty that helped us equalize, won’t replace Werder Bremen youngster Josh Sargent.
The faith put in Sargent paid off as he, after just 7 minutes of play, sent Fabian Johnson away. Johnson made no mistake, beat the last defender and curled the ball past the goalkeeper. The Gladbach winger would also be responsible for doubling our lead. DeAndre Yedlin bombed down the wing and searched for Sargent with a cross. The cross went over Sargent’s head and fell in front of the feet of Johnson. Johnson took a touch and smashed the ball in at the near post.
After just half an hour of play, Josh Sargent grabbed a goal from himself. Pulisic reached the back-line and his cross fell to Sargent who arrived late in the box. He controlled the ball, beat one defender and finished it to make it 3-0. Things went from bad to worse when former Valencia player Tano headed the ball past his own goalkeeper to make it 4-0, which would also be the score going into half-time.
The second half was much of the same. We kept controlling, which resulted in two quick goals. Johnson scored one 40 seconds after the restart with thanks to good work from Garza and Josh Sargent scored his second after another DeAndre Yedlin cross. The game would end 6-0, despite Sargent and Adams hitting the woodwork as well as a Besler goal being disallowed for an offensive foul.
14 September 2019
After a great Peru win and a thrashing against the Dominican Republic it was time for our, arguably biggest, final game against Costa Rica. We would play the play-off game for the Confederations Cup. There was a lot on the line for both sides.
The same eleven players as the Dominican Republic game will be starting once again. We would play this game at a neutral venue, which meant I still haven’t made my official debut as manager in a home game yet, but with the amount of American fans in the stadium, it felt like a home game for us.
The fans played a huge part in helping the team break a very resilient Costa Rica. The first 10 minutes saw both teams trying to be able to play their game. One team was able to do such and that was Costa Rica. Costa Rica sat back and let us keep possession, but it didn’t come to any chances for us.
That was until the 14th minute, Fabian Johnson, who scored a hattrick in the earlier game, got himself into some space and found the back of the net. The first half continued in the same manner, both sides had one great chance though. Joel Campbell’s effort following a corner was cleared of the line and a Lletget longshot just missed the target.
The second half saw Costa Rica pushing for an equalizer. Bryan Ruiz and Joel Campbell were responsible for the best chances for Costa Rica. Ruiz’s free-kick was saved by Steffen and Campbell’s rebound shot was saved by a fantastic reflex from the Man City goalkeeper.
On the other side it was Lletget who saw Neves deny him from close range and Johnson who couldn’t get his foot onto a low Yedlin cross. Despite the chances, no side was thus able to score, meaning we would walk away as winners.
Manager’s thoughts
3 games, 3 wins. It’s all I could’ve hoped for. We were wasteful at times in front of goal, and we relied on Steffen a bit too much at times, but it’s early days and I’m confident we can work on that.