International Soccer
Philadelphia Union trio debut in USMNT thrashing over Peru
The Philadelphia Union homegrown trio of Neil Pierre, Cavan Sullivan, and Frankie Westfield made their USMNT debuts on Saturday afternoon in a 4-1 win over Peru. Alongside Matt Freese and Auston Trusty, five Union homegrowns made appearances in the match, a landmark achievement for the club and its development pathway.
Saturday’s match in Orlando was the first since the World Cup for USMNT. Head coach Mauricio Pochettino went in a new direction with his roster selection, including Pierre, Sullivan, and Westfield for their first senior national team selections among plenty of other potential debutants. Of the new Union trio, Sullivan was the only one selected in the starting lineup. At 16
years and 363 days old, Cavan became the fourth-youngest USMNT debutant in modern history.
Trusty and Freese were selected in defense, alongside West Brom’s George Campbell, who was born in Chester and lived in Wallingford before relocating to Atlanta. It was a bit of a reunion for the USMNT center backs. Campbell and Trusty both played youth soccer at Nether United in Wallingford before Campbell’s move, and were reunited for the first time as professionals on Saturday.
USMNT got off to a fast start. After a foul on the wing, Gio Reyna whipped a free kick into the box that was met by the head of 19-year-old Justin Ellis, who finished to the far post and in for a goal on his debut. The Orlando City homegrown opened the scoring in the 4th minute in front of his home crowd. The goal from Ellis was the fastest in a debut appearance for USMNT in the modern era. The early lead only lasted for a few minutes. Orlando equalized in the 13th minute when former Orlando City player Yoshimar Yotún assisted Gianluca Lapadula’s header to tie the game.
The young Sullivan got involved minutes later. Peru goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, another former Orlando City player, spilled a close-range shot behind himself. Sullivan charged to put in the rebound, receiving a shove from a Peru defender and crashing into Gallese, who was first to the ball. Sullivan received a yellow card for the incident.
At halftime, Freese was removed in net for Diego Kochen. Kochen, another debutant for USMNT, came up through FC Barcelona’s La Masia and is currently on loan at Lyngby BK, a club owned by the Union’s parent company. Sullivan came off in the 62 nd minute, making way for a new wave of debutants including Mathis Albert, Julian Hall, and Zavier Gozo. A break
went USMNT’s way just after the substitutions. Albert dribbled past a defender and was fouled near the edge of the box. Referee Steffon Dewar awarded USMNT a penalty kick despite Peru protests that the foul occurred outside of the box. Malik Tillman scored the penalty, bagging in his third straight match for USMNT and putting the hosts in the lead.
The floodgates opened from there. USMNT doubled their lead on another debut goal from Julian Hall, a striker’s finish from a brilliant Sebastian Berhalter cross. Hall returned the favor minutes later, laying off to Berhalter outside the box who fired a curling effort in from long range. Late inthe match, Frankie Westfield and Neil Pierre made their debuts, coming on in the 77th and 88th minute respectively. The pair of Union defenders helped USMNT close out the 4-1 win.
The USMNT will be in action next in St. Louis vs. Chile on Tuesday, their second match of the extended 4-match international window. The young USMNT squad will look to build on their win against another CONMEBOL opponent before facing off against CONCACAF rivals Mexico and Canada later in the window.
