USA beats Costa Rica 3-0 to cap off January camp for coach Mauricio Pochettino
USA beats Costa Rica 3-0 to cap off January camp for coach Mauricio Pochettino
Brian White and Caden Clark each scored their first international goal as the U.S. men’s national team defeated Costa Rica 3-0 in a friendly at Orlando on Wednesday.
White scored in the 21st minute and Clark in the 77th before Patrick Agyemang added a goal in the 90th after also scoring in his debut Saturday against Venezuela.
The match completed the January camp for new coach Mauricio Pochettino, who is 5-1-0 since taking over in October.
With the European players not called in for this international window, this was a perfect time for him to evaluate the talent in MLS before the marquee players are summoned for the major tournaments of 2025: the CONCACAF Nations League semifinal against Panama on March 20 in Inglewood, Calif. and the CONCACAF Gold Cup in June and July.
Pochettino made eight lineup changes from the 3-1 victory over Venezuela on Saturday, with defender Miles Robinson and midfielders Benjamin Cremaschi and Brian Gutierrez the holdovers.
Midfielder Emeka Eneli and forward Indiana Vassilev made their first starts, while Zack Steffen, in his first U.S. appearance since March 30, 2022, replaced Patrick Schulte.
Steffen, of the Colorado Rapids, maintained the lead with a brilliant save on Alejandro Bran in the 37th minute, a full extension right-handed stop of a swerving shot from 25 yards.
The U.S. struck first on a combination between White (Vancouver Whitecaps) and a bloodied Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), who sustained a possible broken nose when he was on the wrong end of an elbow.
Luna slithered a pass through two defenders, and White ran onto the ball to score from the left side of the box. Each played their third match for the national team.
Steffen made another stretching save to his left in the 56th minute on a shot by Allan Cruz that was targeted for the upper right corner. He had three saves in the match.
Clark (CF Montreal) doubled the lead thanks to a pass from Eneli (Real Salt Lake). Agyemang (Charlotte FC) ripped a shot from distance for the final margin.
