Reyna leads the United States to victory against Paraguay
A goal and an assist from Gio Reyna, who started for the first time since July 2024, propelled the United States men’s national team to a 2-1 victory against Paraguay at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania. The match began with a header by Reyna in the fourth minute, which opened the scoring. The United States quickly took the lead, but the Paraguayans responded shortly after. In the 10th minute, Alex Arce equalized the score with a header, establishing a 1-1 tie. Despite dominating possession and shots in the first half, the United States went into halftime with the score tied. In the second half, the American team continued with their offensive game. The additions of Diego Luna and Alex Freeman, among others, indicated Mauricio Pochettino’s search for the winning goal. In the 71st minute, Luna’s pressure forced a mistake by Paraguay, which led to Folarin Balogun assisting Reyna, who then returned the favor to score 2-1. With more pressure in the final minutes, the United States came close to scoring another goal, amidst some clashes with their opponents in added time, and finally secured a tight but satisfying 2-1 victory at the end of the match. In preparation for the World Cup, Pochettino and his team will close this international break with an additional friendly against Uruguay on November 18.Players and Coach Analysis
Mauricio Pochettino, 8: Pochettino, always willing to experiment, opted for a new starting lineup, highlighting Reyna’s starting position, and it worked. The coach’s constant message has been the team above individuals, which has led to many changes in the starters, and for now, we must give him credit. Certainly, the midfield seemed unstable at times, and his team sometimes struggled with physical counterattacks, but nevertheless, they achieved a deserved victory.Player Ratings (0-10; 10 = best, 5 = average)
Goalkeeper: Matt Freese, 6: Couldn’t do much to stop Arce’s header from close range. Other than that, it was a quiet night for the goalkeeper, who only faced three shots on target.Defense: Joe Scally, 7: A couple of good interventions for the young defender, who was allowed to advance. It wasn’t a career-defining performance, but it was enough to keep him in the running for a spot in the three-man defense.Defense: Tim Ream, 7: A couple of moments where Ream seemed out of sync, but it was still a positive night for the defender, who stopped several attempts and also provided some great long passes forward.Defense: Miles Robinson, 5: Lost his mark on Paraguay’s goal and didn’t need to commit to a foul that earned him a yellow card. Robinson should be recognized for his important clearances, but his decision-making was poor.Midfielder: Max Arfsten, 8: Who’s Antonee Robinson? Arfsten looks more and more confident with each passing game, and the assist proved it on Saturday. Could he establish himself as a starter over Robinson?
Midfielder: Tanner Tessmann, 7: Could we give him a 6.5 for not completely securing his area of play? Either way, he did a lot of dirty work with his overall active play.Midfielder: Cristian Roldan, 6: He launched a shot on goal and participated in the build-up play, but he didn’t fully control the midfield either. He needs to contribute more if he wants to be a starter.Midfielder: Sergiño Dest, 8: Often criticized for not having enough on the defensive end, the high-press right-back did well in helping to win back the ball. As expected, Dest was very active and provided a dangerous shot.Attacking Midfielder: Gio Reyna, 9: What more can you ask for? With all eyes on the return of the promising name that has yet to live up to its high expectations, Reyna responded with a goal and an assist in his first start in over a year.
