Lineup Notes: U.S. MNT vs. Italy - International Friendly

Italy vs. USA Lineup Notes 
International Friendly
Nov. 20, 2018
Luminus Arena; Genk, Belgium
Live Broadcast: 2:45 p.m. ET on FS1 and UniMas

Tonight’s U.S. MNT Starting XI vs. Italy (3-5-2): 12-Ethan Horvath; 5-Cameron Carter Vickers, 21-Walker Zimmerman, 26-Aaron Long; 25-Reggie Cannon, 9-Marky Delgado, 4-Tyler Adams, 23-Kellyn Acosta, 18-Shaq Moore; 10-Christian Pulisic (capt.), 13-Josh Sargent

Substitutes: 1-Brad Guzan; 3-Matt Miazga, 7-Bobby Wood, 11-Tim Weah, 14-Sebastian Lletget, 16-Julian Green, 19-Jorge Villafaña; 20-Wil Trapp, 27-Romain Gall 

• U.S. MNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (including this match): Kellyn Acosta (23), Christian Pulisic (23), Tyler Adams (9), Cameron Carter-Vickers (7), Marky Delgado (6), Josh Sargent (6), Shaq Moore (5), Walker Zimmerman (4), Ethan Horvath (3), Reggie Cannon (2), Aaron Long (2)
• Five of the 11 starters are also age-eligible for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo: Tyler Adams, Reggie Cannon, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Christian Pulisic and Josh Sargent
• With nine of 11 starters 23 years old or younger, the average age of the USA XI comes in at 22 years, 71 days, besting the MNT’s previous modern era-record of 22 years, 160 days which came on May 28, 2018 vs. Bolivia.
• The Starting XI averages eight caps.
• The lone holdover from Thursday’s game against England, Christian Pulisic captains the MNT for the first time tonight. At 20 years, 63 days, Pulisic is the youngest MNT captain of the modern era (1990-present), beating Landon Donovan who first captained the MNT at 22 years, 220 days in a World Cup Qualifier on Oct. 9, 2004 at El Salvador.
• Both making their 23rd appearances, Pulisic joins Kellyn Acosta as the senior-most players in the lineup.
• Having earned their MNT debuts in the 1-1 draw with Portugal a little more than a year ago, 19-year-old midfielder Tyler Adams (nine caps) and 20-year-old defender Cameron Carter-Vickers (seven caps) come in behind Acosta and Pulisic as the third and fourth most capped players in the starting XI.
• Goalkeeper Ethan Horvath earns his third appearance, suiting up for the MNT in the country where he plays professionally with Club Brugge. Horvath played at Luminus Arena earlier this month, backstopping the Blauw-Zwart to a 1-1 draw with Belgian league-leaders KRC Genk on Nov. 3. 
• Defenders Reggie Cannon and Aaron Long and midfielder Marky Delgado will make their first appearances against a European opponent tonight.
• Seven starters make up the 22 players that have debuted in the last year under Sarachan: Adams, Cannon, Carter-Vickers, Delgado, Moore, Long and Sargent.
• After missing out on Thursday’s match against England, Josh Sargent returns to the lineup to make his sixth MNT appearance. Sargent scored the USA goal in last month’s 1-1 draw against Peru.
• The MNT starting XI represents clubs in six different countries: USA (5), Germany (2), Belgium, Canada, Spain and Wales (1 each), 
• Should he score in tonight’s game, Pulisic would become the fastest MNT player to 10 goals by age (20 years, 63 days) and tie Clint Mathis for the fastest in caps (23). 
• The three-man backline will see Cameron Carter-Vickers, Walker Zimmerman and Aaron Long line up from right to left.
• Sarachan’s five-man midfield features wing backs Reggie Cannon (right) and Shaq Moore (left). Tyler Adams sits at the center of the park with Kellyn Acosta to his left and Delgado to his right. 
• Christian Pulisic partners with fellow-German based attacker Josh Sargent up top. 
• Should he enter the match, substitute Romain Gall would become the 23rd player to debut under Sarachan and 20th in 2018.
• The MNT holds a 1-7-3 all-time record against Italy. The MNT’s lone win in the series came as Clint Dempsey scored the goal in a 1-0 victory on Feb. 29, 2012 in Genoa.
• Dempsey’s goal that night made him one of four MNT goal scorers to find the back of the net against the Azzurri. The Others: Aldo “Buff” Donelli (1-7 L; May 27, 1934), John Harkes (1-1 D; June 6, 1992) and Landon Donovan (1-3 L; June 15, 2009)
• The MNT is 0-3-0 all-time and has never scored on Belgian soil. All three previous matches came against Belgium.
• With the MNT dressing 20 players, John Brooks, Jonathan Klinsmann and DeAndre Yedlin are healthy scratches from tonight’s match. Teams are allowed to make six substitutions.