The scoreline, ultimately, won't paint the whole picture. It ended as a 3-0 win, a lopsided one on paper at least, but the U.S. men's national team's win over Uzbekistan was anything but. Instead, it was about as nervy and frustrating as could be.
An early goal from Tim Weah seemingly set the tone, but it took until the final moments for the U.S. to really make their mark on the game as two substitutes made massive statements. Weah was joined on the scoresheet by Ricardo Pepi, who scored a much-needed goal in his push for more minutes, as well as Christian Pulisic, who buried a late penalty kick to flatter the USMNT.
USMNT starters combined for two of the goals, but it was the substitutes that will leave feeling best about their day. Pepi, obviously, will have boosted his stock, and Malik Tillman will feel the same after earning the penalty ahead of Pulisic's goal.
The goals were nice, but everything in between left a different impression. From minute five to minute 90, the U.S. showed plenty of familiar faults, particularly in the attacking end. Gregg Berhalter's side, by and large, was in control, running up possession and passing numbers throughout. Those numbers, though, didn't lead to goals until the very last moments of a game that looked, at any point, like it could slip away.
How you view that will depend on your mindset. The optimist will see a 3-0 win, a job well done and a team that proved it can close out a game. The pessimist, though, will see familiar problems that, at least on this day, may remain a bit under the radar thanks to the impact of two late subs.
GOAL rates the USMNT's players from CITYPARK...
