Mauricio Pochettino started his tenure as manager of the US national team with a victory on Saturday evening as the Americans defeated Panama 2-0 at home.
Midfielder Yunus Musah scored the opening goal in front of the crowd in Austin, Texas, while his AC Milan teammate Christian Pulisic provided the assist with a cross from the left.
Panama even beat the USA 13-11 and came close to scoring a few times, namely in the 52nd minute when goalkeeper Matt Turner was knocked out. forced into a great double save.
Ultimately, however, the visitors failed to equalize and Ricardo Pepi sealed things with a close-range finish deep into second-half stoppage time.
After the match, Pochettino called it a ‘very professional performance’.
‘Little by little, [we are] build something – the goal is 2026,” he continued on the TNT broadcast, calling the performance “solid.”
US head coach Mauricio Pochettino talks to Christian Pulisic during the first half against Panama
Yunus Musah (center) was elated as he scored his first American goal in his 42nd appearance
The match in front of a crowd of almost 20,239 people at Q2 Stadium was the first of two friendlies for the US in a four-day period, including a match against Mexico on Tuesday in Guadalajara.
The Americans ended a four-game winless streak and their first four-game winless streak since a seven-game defeat in 2010-11.
Pochettino opted for a mix of youth and experience in the starting eleven, with 37-year-old Tim Ream occupying one of the centre-back positions and core players in Pulisic and Robinson also keeping their places.
However, he also opted to play 22-year-old Gianluca Busio and Aidan Morris at centre, giving them only their 13th and seventh caps respectively.
Notably, mainstay Weston McKennie was also an unused substitute, while regulars Sergiño Dest, Tyler Adams, Gio Reyna, Tim Weah and Folarin Balogun were also missing due to injury.
Pochettino made a series of substitutions in the second half as Pulisic, Musah, Busio, Robinson, Josh Sargent and Brenden Aaronson were all taken off.
Ricardo Pepi scored the second and final goal of the match deep in the second half
Pepi was introduced in the 67th minute before putting the game on ice in the 94th.
Three substitutions in the second half combined to score that goal.
Malik Tillman brought down a kick from goalkeeper Matt Turner and passed to Haji Wright, who crossed. Texas native Pepi slotted the ball through Mosquera’s legs for his 11th goal in 31 appearances – his fourth in three international matches in Austin.
“We’re starting to learn the new coach’s ideas and things like that, which we’ve done quite well,” Robinson told TNT after the game.
‘We had more chances [that we could have] put away if we were a bit more clinical, but otherwise I think the team stuck to their task well.’
