Sebastian Berhalter kicked off the scoring with a thunderous strike and Alex Freeman added a pair of first-half goals as the United States ran roughshod over Uruguay in a 5-1 friendly win at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday night.
The U.S. took a surprising lead in the first half when Berhalter smashed a shot from a set piece past Uruguay keeper Cristopher Fiermarin.
And the surprises kept coming for the Americans.
Ten minutes later Freeman beat Fiermarin with a towering header from a corner kick for his first U.S. goal, and then scored again as he tiptoed through the Uruguay defense and rifled in a close-range shot to make it 3-0.
The goals kept coming for the U.S. as Diego Luna finished off a nice team move down the left flank with a first-time shot before Uruguay finally got on the scoreboard with a beautiful overhead kick from Giorgian de Arrascaeta that sent the visitors to the locker room trailing 4-1.
U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino was irritated by the late goal when he spoke to TNT during an interview at halftime.
“We need to keep our intensity and our concentration,” Pochettino said. “That can’t happen. Now we need to control the emotions and control the second half. That is the most difficult thing.”
Pochettino made nine changes to the lineup that beat Paraguay 2-1 on Saturday, with Sergiño Dest and goalkeeper Matthew Freese the only two players to make the XI again.
Giovanni Reyna, who scored in his first start for the U.S. since the summer of 2024, was one of those left out of the lineup, but he came on for Luna in the 61st minute with his team still leading 4-1.
Uruguay were down to 10 players shortly after Reyna took the field when Rodrigo Bentancur was shown a straight red card for a lunging slide tackle that caught Berhalter on his lower leg.
The Americans took advantage of the extra man as Reyna set up fellow substitute Tanner Tessmann for his first goal in a U.S. jersey to extend the lead to four goals.
The result marked the first time the U.S. has scored five goals against a team that has won a World Cup and helps Pochettino’s side end a tumultuous calendar year on a major high.
Next year, the U.S. will play two friendlies in March — likely against Portugal and Belgium — and then two more in late May or early June ahead of hosting the World Cup on home soil along with Canada and Mexico next summer.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this recap.
