Late Jordan Morris Equalizer Earns USMNT 1-1 Draw With Fifth-Ranked Uruguay

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Sept. 10, 2019) – The U.S. Men’s National Team got a 79^th minute goal from Jordan Morris to secure a 1-1 draw with world No. 5 Uruguay in front of 20,625 fans at Busch Stadium in the USA’s final tune-up before beginning Concacaf Nations League play in October.

The teams traded early chances as the U.S. continued to implement head coach Gregg Berhalter’s possession style of play. Brian Rodriguez slipped through the U.S. defense in a preview of events to come, but veteran U.S. goalkeeper Brad Guzan made a strong save, diving at the young attacker’s feet in the sixth minute. At the other end, U.S. midfielder Cristian Roldan put a header on frame but Uruguay netminder Fernando Muslera was on hand to make the first of his three total saves in the 11^th minute as the USA ultimately generated 11 shots, four on target.

The USA’s best chance of the first half came in the 22^nd minute when Morris picked out Tyler Boyd after beating his defender one-v-one and whipping a cross through the six-yard box. Making a back-post run, Boyd tried to shrug off a challenge from his defender and in so doing hit his effort into the ground and over the bar.

Then just before the interval, a headed effort by hometown forward Josh Sargent struck the outstretched arm of Uruguay defender José Giménez, but referee Ricardo Montero nor his assistants caught the infraction, sending the U.S. to the locker room without a penalty kick opportunity and tied at 0-0.

The U.S. started the second half well but fell victim to a Uruguay counter attack in the 50^th minute. Brian Rodriguez capped off the move by smashing a sharp angle shot past Brad Guzan in the U.S. goal to give the visitors the initial 1-0 advantage.

Undaunted, the U.S. continued to push for a goal and was nearly rewarded in the 58^th minute when a Tyler Boyd cross was met by an unmarked Morris, but his diving header was stopped by another quality Muslera save.

Berhalter turned to his bench for fresh legs beginning in the 65^th minute, bringing on attacker Corey Baird and defender Miles Robinson, and later defender Nick Lima in the 75^th minute.

Four minutes after coming on, Lima’s strong work down the right side resulted in him blocking a clearance near the right post. The deflected ball fell perfectly for Morris at the back post and the Budweiser Man of the Match chested the ball over the line for a deserved equalizer that gave the USA a spirited 1-1 result ahead of important Concacaf games in the months to come.

Next on the Schedule: The USA heads to Audi Field in Washington, D.C. to begin Concacaf Nations League play vs. Cuba on Oct. 11. The match in the nation’s capital will be broadcast beginning at 7 p.m. ET on FS1, TUDN and UniMas.
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Goal Scoring Rundown:

URU – Brian Rodriguez (Federico Valverde), 50th minute: Uruguay countered quickly after escaping a U.S. attack with Valverde carrying the ball up field into the U.S. half before playing it wide left to Rodriguez. The young forward beat his defender one-v-one before unleashing a fierce drive from the left side of the box that zipped between U.S. goalkeeper Brad Guzan and the near, left post. USA 0, URU 1 [WATCH]

USA – Jordan Morris (Nick Lima), 79th minute: The U.S. moved the ball through central midfield and eventually out wide right to second half sub Nick Lima whose initial cross was blocked, but he stuck with the play and blocked an attempted clearance across the face of goal. Morris was on hand at the back post to chest the looping ball over the goal line as Uruguay ‘keeper Fernando Muslera was unable to scramble across goalmouth in time. USA 1, URU 1 [WATCH] FINAL

Key Saves and Defensive Plays:

USA – Brad Guzan, 6th minute: Uruguay gained possession in its defensive half and embarked on a flowing team move upfield that nearly resulted in LA Galaxy attacker Brian Rodriguez putting home a low cross after initially sending the ball out wide, but veteran U.S. goalkeeper was wise to the play and timed his challenged well to smother the ball at Rodriguez’s feet.

URU – Fernando Muslera, 11th minute: Jackson Yueill sprayed the ball out to Jordan Morris on the left wing and his cross was met in the middle of the box by Cristian Roldan, who put a header on frame, but Muslera made a quick reaction save, getting down to the lower left corner to push the shot away.

USA – Tim Ream, 24th minute: Uruguay kept possession after a corner kick and whipped in another cross from the right side that Guzan got a hand to, but the ball rebounded to a Uruguay attacker, who had the goal at his mercy. However, Ream was wise to the danger and stepped in to make a goal-saving block.

URU – Fernando Muslera, 39th minute: Josh Sargent chased down the ball and did well to hold-up play, allowing his teammates to join him in attack before picking out Dest near the top of the box. The young left back took a touch and unleashed a curling effort toward the lower right corner that forced Muslera into a diving save.

URU – Fernando Muslera, 58th minute: After a spell of U.S. possession, the ball came to Tyler Boyd on the right side and he picked out the run of Morris with a long cross to the back post. Morris put a diving header on goal, but Muslera was able to get low quickly enough to smother the shot with Sargent on the doorstep looking for any rebound.

USA – Brad Guzan, 91st minute: In a similar attack to one on which Uruguay scored its goal, the visitors sent one last attack at the U.S. Nahitan Nández ultimately got free and snapped a shot on goal but Guzan was well positioned to catch and hold the shot, preserving the result.

Additional Notes:

• In a series that first started at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, the USA and Uruguay are an even 2-2-3 in seven matches.

• Jordan Morris scored his sixth career goal for the USMNT. It was his first since notching the game winner against Jamaica in the 2017 Concacaf Gold Cup final.

• Nineteen-year-old Paxton Pomykal, a product of the U.S. Youth National Team program and U.S. Soccer Development Academy, made his senior international debut in the second half.

• USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter made seven changes to the team that started against Mexico, with defenders Reggie Cannon, Sergiño Dest and Aaron Long, and winger Tyler Boyd the only holdovers.

• The USA Starting XI had an average age of 25 years, 65 days and 17 caps.

• Sebastian Lletget made his first USMNT start since the 6-0 World Cup Qualifying victory against Honduras on March 24, 2017. The midfielder opened the scoring early before suffering a Lisfranc injury just 10 minutes later, with the ailment keeping him out of action for nearly a year. 

• A day after turning 35 years old, veteran goalkeeper Brad Guzan made his first appearance since the team’s defeat to England at Wembley Stadium in London on Nov. 15, 2018. The Atlanta United FC backstop is the 41^st player capped by the USMNT in 2019.

• Captaining the side for the third time, defender Tim Ream (St. Louis) and striker Josh Sargent (O’Fallon, Mo.) made starts in front of their hometown crowd. Ream previously captained the team in a 1-0 win against Ecuador (March 26, 2019 in Orlando) and the 3-1 Gold Cup Semifinal win against Jamaica (July 3, 2019 in Nashville).

- U.S. Men’s National Team Match Report -

Match: U.S. Men’s National Team vs. Uruguay

Date: September 10, 2019

Competition: International Friendly

Venue: Busch Stadium; St. Louis, Mo.

Attendance: 20,625

Kickoff: 7 p.m. CT

Weather: 83 degrees; clear skies

 

Scoring Summary:   1          2          F

USA                            0          1          1

URU                            0          1          1

 

URU – Brian Rodríguez (Federico Valverde)            50^th minute

USA – Jordan Morris (Nick Lima)                              79

 

Lineups:

USA:  1-Brad Guzan, 3-Aaron Long (22-Miles Robinson, 65), 7-Cristian Roldan, 11-Jordan Morris (24-Paxton Pomykal, 85) 13-Tim Ream (capt.), 14-Jackson Yueill, 17-Sebastian Lletget, 18-Sergiño Dest (16-Daniel Lovitz, 70) 19-Josh Sargent (9-Gyasi Zardes, 75), 20-Reggie Cannon (2-Nick Lima, 75), 21-Tyler Boyd (27-Corey Baird, 65)

Substitutes not used: 12-Jesse Gonzalez, 4-Walker Zimmerman, 6-Wil Trapp,

Head coach: Gregg Berhalter

URU: 1-Fernando Muslera (capt.), 2-José Giménez, 3-Matías Viña, 5-Matías Vecino, 6-Rodrigo Bentancur (8-Nahitan Nández, 83), 10-Giorgian De Arrascaeta, 15-Federico Valverde, 16-Brian Rodríguez (7-Brian Lozano, 62), 19-Sebastián Coates, 20-Jonathan Rodríguez (18-Maxi Gómez, 87), 22-Martín Cáceres

Substitutes not used: 12-Martín Campaña, 4-Giovanni González, 9-Darwin Núñez, 13-Gastón Silva, 14-Lucas Torreira, 17-Diego Laxalt, 21-Marcelo Saracchi

Head coach:  Óscar Tabárez

 

Stats Summary: USA / URU

Shots: 11 / 15
Shots on Goal: 4 / 3
Saves: 2 / 3
Corner Kicks: 3 / 4
Fouls: 3 / 8
Offside: 4 / 3

Misconduct Summary:

None

 

Officials:

Referee: Ricardo Montero (CRC)

Assistant Referee 1: William Arrieta (CRC)

Assistant Referee 2: Octavio Jara (CRC)

4^th Official: Benjamin Pineda (CRC)

 

ussoccer.com Man of the Match: Jordan Morris