The USMNT continued their struggles away from home on Tuesday, drawing against Saudi Arabia. Playing against Saudi Arabia in Spain, the Americans looked sloppy and failed to score once again. The match ended 0-0 on the night.
Both teams entered the game a bit depressed. The USMNT have only earned one away win in their last 10 attempts. Plus, he only managed to score once on the road this year. Even that was a 91st minute draw against El Salvador.
Saudi Arabia have now failed to score in their last four competitive matches and have not claimed a victory since March. While the opposition also qualified for the upcoming World Cup, this team was missing several key players.
The Greens played the match without their starting goalkeeper and without their two top scorers. In fact, the starting goalkeeper of the night currently plays in the second division of the country. However, the USMNT failed to really upset the Saudi defense.
USMNT plays a sad draw with Saudi Arabia
The Americans, however, had one shot on goal in the match. They failed in their 2-0 loss to Japan last week. Ricardo Pepi made his first start for the USMNT since March. However, the striker failed to make a real impact in the match. Manager Gregg Berhalter replaced him in the 59th minute. He left the field having touched the ball just 13 times, the lowest of any other USMNT starting player.
“We need to play our game, play with confidence.” @JennyTaft with Gregg Berhalter after the USMNT draw with Saudi Arabia ???????? pic.twitter.com/ODyIg5KaTJ
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) September 27, 2022
Giovanni Reyna also found himself back in the starting XI. Although he made his first start for the team in over a year, the Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder did not make it to halftime. Reyna was reportedly replaced after 30 minutes due to muscle strain. However, the 19-year-old star managed to walk off the court without a noticeable limp.
After the match, head coach Gregg Berhalter stated that the performance was an improvement compared to the Japan match. “I think it got better,” Berhalter said. “I still think that we are not as safe as I would like. We are playing tentative. You see that the connections are not there as we want.”
The manager also liked the overall team effort. “The effort was great today. The intensity was great, especially at the end of the match. We keep pushing, we keep trying to score. I can’t complain about the effort, but we have to keep improving”.
This was the team’s last scheduled match before the start of the World Cup. The final squads are due to FIFA by November 13 and the Americans begin their tournament against Wales on November 21.
PHOTO: IMAGO/ANP
