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CINCINNATI, Ohio (June 9, 2019) – The U.S. Men’s National Team fell 3-0 to Venezuela in front of 23,955 at Nippert Stadium in its final warm-up match ahead of the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup.
The U.S. began with some promising attacking play early on and nearly stormed ahead in the seventh minute when Weston McKennie’s glancing header was saved by Venezuela ‘keeper Wuilker Fariñez at the right post.
Venezuela grabbed the lead nine minutes later. Jhon Murillo pounced on Zack Steffen’s misplayed pass out of the back, leading to Salmon Rondón putting La Vinotinto ahead 1-0 in the 16th minute. On the half-hour mark, Jefferson Savarino converted his own rebound to give Venezuela a 2-0 lead.
The USA nearly cut the score in half in the 34th minute when Nick Lima’s cross from the right was turned directly into the path of McKennie, whose first-time effort was once again denied by Fariñez with a diving stop at the right post.
Back the other way, Venezuela earned a third goal when Rondón latched onto a cutting ball over the top before beating a screened Steffen from close range in the 36th minute.
At halftime, USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter inserted veteran forward Jozy Altidore and center back Walker Zimmerman. Earning his 111th cap, Altidore’s entry marked his first appearance since 2017 and helped spark a bit more in the USA attack.
Moments after entering the veteran forward combined well with Cristian Roldan, only just missing out on the final connecting pass that would have put the Seattle Sounders FC midfielder in alone on goal.
With the USA still looking to cut into the lead, Paul Arriola forced a turnover in the attacking third and played to Altidore, who again found Roldan, and he laid it off for substitute Jordan Morris on the right. The attacker cut inside and fired a blistering effort that went just past the left post in the 67th minute.
A minute later, Lima broke free down the right and crossed to the six-yard box. Duane Holmes, another substitute, whiffed on his effort and the ball fell to Arriola at the back post, but he put his first-time chance over the bar.
In the 80th minute, Roldan’s cross from the right found Arriola streaking through the box, but the winger’s first-time effort was once again, frustratingly kept out by Fariñez.
Next up, the USMNT opens the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup against Guyana on Tuesday, June 18 at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minn. Coverage of the USMNT’s first visit to Minnesota begins at 10 p.m. ET on FS1 and UniMas. Fans can also follow the match via U.S. Soccer’s official Facebook page, Twitter (@USMNT) and Instagram (@USMNT).
VEN – Salomón Rondón (Jhon Murillo), 16th minute: After high pressure from Venezuela, Zack Steffen misplayed a ball out of the back directly to Murillo. The midfielder slotted it forward for Róndón, who remained in an onside position, and slid his shot past Zack Steffen and inside the right post. USA 0, VEN 1
VEN – Jefferson Savarino, 30th minute: A throw in from the left was flicked on by Rondón into the path of Savarino. The attacker blasted an effort that beat Steffen before careening off the left post, allowing him to finish the rebound into an empty net. USA 0, VEN 2
VEN – Salomon Rondón (Tomas Rincon), 36th minute: A build up out of the back led to Rincon finding Rondón in stride as he cut through the U.S. back line. Aaron Long tracked him, but Rondón cut back in the box to shake the USMNT defender, before rocketing a close-range blast past Steffen. USA 0, VEN 3 FINAL
VEN – Wuilker Fariñez, 34th minute: Cristian Roldan began a nice attacking sequence by slotting Nick Lima into space on the right. The full back measured a cross to the back post, that was deflected back to McKennie, whose first-time effort was only kept out thanks to a diving stop from Fariñez.
VEN – Wuilker Fariñez, 80th minute: Fariñez thwarted the USA again, when Cristian Roldan found space on the right and centered a cross to the six-yard box. Arriola came through and one-timed his effort but Fariñez did well to get across and react with his third big save of the afternoon.
A halftime substitute, veteran forward Jozy Altidore made his 111th appearance, moving him into sole possession of 10th on the USMNT all-time caps list. It was also his first since 2017.
With the start, winger Tyler Boyd earned his USMNT debut.
With his 10th appearance, Zack Steffen became the 12th USMNT goalkeeper all-time to earn double-digit caps. With 498 days since his debut last January, the 24-year-old is the second fastest USMNT goalkeeper to reach 10 caps, following only Brad Friedel. The three-time World Cup veteran collected his 10th appearance in 1993, 290 days after his debut the previous year.
Ohio-born Wil Trapp captained the side for the ninth time. Trapp is the fifth different player to wear the armband in the six matches under USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter.
Paul Arriola and Trapp remain the only players to appear in all six matches for the USMNT in 2019.
The USA moves to 3-1-2 in six all-time meetings against Venezuela.
Michael Bradley, Jonathan Lewis and Christian Pulisic were not in the matchday squad.
23,955 were in attendance for the USMNT’s first visit to Cincinnati.
Match: U.S. Men’s National Team vs. Venezuela
Date: June 9, 2019
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: Nippert Stadium; Cincinnati, Ohio
Attendance: 23,955
Kickoff: 2 p.m. ET
Weather: 74 degrees; cloudy
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 0 0 0
VEN 3 0 3
VEN – Salomón Rondón (Jhon Murillo) 16th minute
VEN – Jefferson Savarino 30
VEN – Salomón Rondón (Tomas Rincon) 36
Lineups:
USA: 1-Zack Steffen; 2-Nick Lima, 19-Matt Miazga, 23-Aaron Long (5-Walker Zimmerman, 46), 13-Tim Ream (16-Daniel Lovitz, 78); 6-Wil Trapp (capt.); 15-Cristian Roldan, 8-Weston McKennie (20-Duane Holmes, 62); 21-Tyler Boyd (11-Jordan Morris, 62), 9-Gyasi Zardes (17-Jozy Altidore, 46), 7-Paul Arriola
Substitutes: 12-Sean Johnson, 22-Tyler Miller, 3-Omar Gonzalez
Head coach: Gregg Berhalter
VEN: 1-Wuilker Faríñez; 2-Mikel Villanueva, 4-Jhon Chancellor, 5-Junior Moreno, 6-Yangel Herrera (19-Arquimedes Figuera, 89), 8-Tomas Rincon (capt.) (17-Josef Martinez, 61), 10-Jefferson Savarino (11- Juan Pablo Añor, 65), 14-Luis Mago, 15-Jhon Murillo (7-Dawin Machis, 66), 16-Roberto Rosales (20- Ronald Hernandez, 46), 23- Salomón Rondón (13-Luis Manuel Seijas, 79)
Substitutes: 12-Joel Graterol, 22-Rafael Romo, 3-Yordan Osorio, 9-Fernando Aristiguieta, 21-Pablo Bonilla
Head coach: Rafael Dudamel
Stats Summary: USA / VEN
Shots: 13 / 9
Shots on Goal: 4 / 4
Saves: 1 / 4
Corner Kicks: 10 / 1
Fouls: 16 / 11
Offside: 2 / 0
USA – Wil Trapp (caution) 47th minute
USA –Walker Zimmerman (caution) 48
USA –Duane Holmes (caution) 62
Officials:
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Referee: Bryan Lopez (GUA) |
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Assistant Referee 1: Julian Mendez (GUA) |
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Assistant Referee 2: Tashun Simons (BER) |
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4th Official: Oscar Macias (MEX) |
