DCFC Defeats Birmingham Legion
Mexican Errors Gift USA A Win
Managing Mexico has always been one of the toughest jobs in CONCACAF. As a legendary player for the national team Rafael Marquez knew what he was getting into when he signed on to succeed Javier Aguirre. Marquez brought in a veteran team to this international break. The roster had many of the players who played during the World Cup and nearly got past England in the round of sixteen.
Goalkeeper Jose Rangel, who played so well during the summer, had a game to forget in Arizona last weekend. He will be held directly responsible for giving away the first two goals. His defense conspired to present the Americans with a third late in the game with Mexico down to ten men following Mateo Chavez’s sending off.
Gifts or not Maurcio Pochettino and the US team won’t be complaining. While Marquez has now achieved two draws and a heavy defeat during this extended international window, the USA has swept aside its first three opponents. The USA has tallied 11 goals in the process, 6 scored by teenagers.
Pochettino’s young team with 11 players eligible for the 2028 Olympic games has brought great energy. Against Mexico, Pochettino started 17 year old Cavan Sullivan and 18 year old Julian Hall. The two MLS stars were joined by 20 year old goalkeeper Diego Kochen, whom Barcelona has loaned to Lyngby of the Danish topflight. All three looked like the real deal against Mexico.
Mexico had a large edge in possession during the early stages of the not so friendly encounter. They spent much of the time passing the ball back and forth with Rangel without making much headway. Kochen didn’t face any shots in the first half. His interventions came on overhit passes that rolled in and passes from the US back four.
The USA made the breakthrough in the 28th minute against the run of play. They sprung forward in a lightning quick attack on the right side. Alex Freeman split two defenders with a pass that found Gio Reyna in acres of space. Rangel could only spill Reyna’s cross at the feet of Hall who finished easily into the wide open goal. Hall has now scored in each of his first three national team appearance, something done only twice before in US history.
Play evened out after the opening goal. Mexico clearly needed to make an adjustment to try and get back on top in the game. Marquez made a change to the formation at halftime, moving to a back three instead of a back four. It backfired. Sullivan found far more room to work behind the wing back on the USA’s right side. He made a number of strong runs that lifted the American fans who have been feeling the hype around him since he was fourteen years old.
Sullivan’s willingness to press eventually earned a reward. Just four minutes after Kochen made his most difficult save of the night, Rangel dithered in possession. Sullivan stood off but read the goalkeeper’s intent and stepped in front of an ill-advised pass. The teenager curled his lob around the despairing goalkeeper into an open net. With that goal, Cavan Sullivan became the USA’s youngest ever goal scorer at 17 years and 5 days, beating the previous record set by Mathis Albert against Chile last week.
World Cup veteran Malik Tillman finished the scoring in the 84th minute after the American press forced another turnover. Tillman ran onto a misplaced pass and ripped the ball past Rangel into the top corner. By this point, the Mexican fans had become largely silent.
The USA will finished the four-match window against Canada this week. Three wins from three has made a strong start to the new four year cycle. Having started eight players from the World Cup roster against Mexico, the US will most likely rest a few tired bodies. Gio Reyna, Tyler Adams, Malik Tillman, and Antonee Robinson are probably ready to at least start on the bench against Canada. Teenagers Javier Gozo, Neil Pierre, and Peyton Miller are just three youngsters who will be anxious to have some more minutes before the break ends.
The USA will next gather for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals in November. They will play an away game for the first time since 2024 in the first leg. The second leg will be in Cincinnati on November 17. Given the strong performances by a number of young players, it will be interesting to see if Pochettino keeps any with the senior team or sends them to the youth teams who also have camps scheduled.
A penalty kick midway through the first half provided Detroit City with all the offense they would need in a 1-0 win over the Birmingham Legion at Keyworth Stadium last Saturday. That win wrapped up a tough stretch of three games in seven days for Le Rouge. Most importantly, the team took seven of the nine points available, clinching a playoff spot and putting the team in pole position to earn a home game in the first round of the USL Championship playoffs.
Kobe Hernandez-Foster tucked his penalty just inside the post after twenty-two minutes. Aedan Stanley, who had a terrific game at both ends of the field, had charged into the Legion penalty area and was prepared to either cross or shoot when Seth Antwi brought him down. Stanley had made a couple of earlier forays down the left side as DCFC looked to take control of the game.
Prior to the penalty kick, Le Rouge had a lot of possession without threatening to take the lead. After an early bit of back and forth, Hernandez-Foster and Maxi Rodriguez dictated the play for the next fifteen minutes or so. The goal capped off the excellent early spell.
It would have been a bit easier on the fans and the DCFC staff if the team had built on that period of dominance. However, they eased off after the goal and allowed the Legion to have some of the play. Fortunately, Carlos Herrera remained sharp and in charge of his penalty area. He only faced one shot on goal but collected all four corners and a number of crosses. Herrera now leads the entire league in shutouts with 13. DCFC has only conceded 20 goals in 27 games. The next best team has given up 25 goals in 27 games.
The narrow, but comfortable, win over Birmingham came just three days after a much changed lineup traveled to Brooklyn and came away with a 3-1 win. Darrin Smith, Callum Montgomery, and Hernandez-Foster all came on in the second half and scored. Hernandez-Foster scored one of the goals of the season in stoppage time to seal the win. Brooklyn FC had a corner and brought their goalkeeper forward in a desperate attempt to equalize. A partial clearance fell to Hernandez-Foster in the arc at the top of the DCFC penalty area. He whirled and whacked the ball straight down the field. It bounce a couple of times and then rolled the final few yards into the empty net. The clip circulated on the Internet and won the USL Championship Goal of the Week.
The two wins vaulted DCFC temporarily into second place in the USL Championship Eastern Conference, just five points behind the Tampa Bay Rowdies with three games remaining. The two teams will meet in Tampa on the final night of the regular season. DCFC will probably have to win out and hope the Rowdies slip up one or two more times if they want to finish on top of the conference. DCFC will close out the home portion of the schedule on Saturday night against Rhode Island FC. DCFC will clinch home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a win.
