'He's been watching me' - USMNT's Christian Pulisic, Mauricio Pochettino praise Yunus Musah after terrific goal beats Panama

Timing really is everything. Yunus Musah scored his first U.S. men's national team goal in his 42nd cap to break out of months-long cold spell for club and country. The impressive finish came at an opportune time for AC Milan midfielder as it was also the debut goal of the Mauricio Pochettino era for the USMNT.

"I've been dreaming about it for so long. I've come so close as well and to finally score it, I'm so grateful," Musah told TNT.

Following the 2-0 win over Panama, both Pochettino and Christian Pulisic, who is Musah's teammate at Milan and also assisted on the opener, had plenty of praise for the 21-year-old.

"I told him that was just goalscoring instincts. He's been watching me. Maybe he's been learning a thing or two," Pulisic joked with reporters after the match. "But, honestly, that moment, that's why you play."

"He's not playing a lot the last few games.. When he arrived, we were talking to him and trying to raise his confidence, maybe starting in a different position, but it was just one he's played in the past," Pochettino said. "I think that was a good decision. It's always worth trying to build his confidence to make a player feel that he can perform on the pitch.

"By the way, I knew him when was young and played in the academy of Arsenal and then moved to Valencia and played in the position that today we used. I think it's not new for him."

Saturday's performance was needed by Musah, who looked out of sorts and lacking in confidence during the USMNT's September friendlies.

Things haven't been much better for Musah on the club level this season either. Following a strong debut campaign at Milan, where he made 13 starts and had a consistent role, he has seen his role diminished under a new manager in Paulo Fonseca. He has played just 150 minutes, with just one start.

Musah started in midfield in Pochettino's first match but he had a different role, shifting to wide central midfielder. In that role, Musah actually had more freedom, venturing between a hybrid winger-center mid-wing back and impacting all phases of the match.

Despite being more of a deep-lying midfielder for both the U.S. and Milan, Musah actually started his career as a highly-touted winger prospect for Valencia after leaving Arsenal's youth academy in 2019. Musah acknowledged Pochettino placement was done by design.

"I can see he knows a lot about my background. He knows about my academy days, playing at Valencia - everything," Musah said. "That's why today I played wide because he knows I used to play wide as well so it's nice that a coach knows about me, has a lot of faith in me."

Pochettino hopes Musah will build on this performance.

"Now maybe he can start to perform and behave in a different way, full of confidence," he said. "That's the importance of our decision: trying to help. We are here to help the players find the best."

Musah and the U.S. have one more friendly, a matchup against rivals Mexico, on Oct. 15. Following that, Musah and Pulisic will return to Italy ahead of Milan's home fixture against Udinese on Oct. 19.

Ryan Tolmich contributed reporting from Austin.