USMNT kicks off the Mauricio Pochettino era with a 2-0 win over Panama

Doug McIntyre

Soccer Journalist

AUSTIN, Texas — The U.S. men’s national team marked new coach Mauricio Pochettino’s debut with a 2-0 victory in Saturday’s friendly match at a nearly sold out Q2 Stadium.

Midfielder Yunus Musah scored the winner — the 21-year-old World Cup veteran’s first goal in 42 career appearances for the USMNT — from a gorgeous pass by U.S. star and AC Milan teammate Christian Pulisic four minutes into the second half. Substitute Ricardo Pepi added another strike deep into second half stoppage time. 

Here are a few quick takeaways from Pochettino’s successful first match at the helm.

Play of the game

Musah’s first international goal was a long time coming. It proved to be worth the wait. The play started when center back Tim Ream, to whom Pochettino gave the captain’s armband on Saturday, found left back Antonee “Jedi” Robinson deep in Los Canaleros half. Robinson beat former New York Red Bulls fullback Michael Murillo and quickly found Pulisic. After a quick interchange with Brenden Aaronson, Pulisic regained possession and picked out Musah racing into the box. Muash stuck out his right leg and redirected the service past visiting keeper Orlando Mosquera from the top of the six-yard box.

Turning point

Just three minutes after Musah’s opener, Panama nearly canceled it out. But U.S. backstop Matt Turner — whose only action during the 2024-25 season has come for his country — showed why he’s been the U.S. No. 1 for the last two years.

Turner made an all-world save on Édgar Bárcenas, stretching to paw the effort away. Turner then stopped the rebound shot by José Luis Rodríguez from point-blank rage to preserve the lead and, by extension, Pochettino’s maiden win.

Key stat

The expectation was that the Americans would come out flying in their first 45 minutes under their new boss. The first-half stats tell a different story. Despite playing in front of a  raucous, partisan crowd in the Texan capital, the U.S. was only slightly ahead of Panama in most categories, including shots (6-5), possession (57-percent to 43), passes (308-237) and passing accuracy (90-percent to 86).

Mosquera and Turner each made a single first half save — Mosquera’s a spectacular diving stop on Aaronson to keep the game scoreless about six minutes before halftime.

What’s next for Panama?

Los Canaleros head north of the border to face Concacaf rival Canada on Tuesday in Toronto.

A hotly-anticipated trip to Estadio Akron in Guadalajara, Mexico, where the Americans will take on chief nemesis El Tri on Tuesday night. As much as Saturday’s triumph was a needed one following a winless September window and a disastrous Copa América performance over the summer, that match will provide a much sterner test. The U.S. has just one win against El Tri in Mexico in 28 games there since 1937.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports. A former staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports, he has covered U.S. men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.

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