The supporters in the north end of Inter.co Stadium did not have to wait long for a moment worth remembering. Four minutes into the United States’ meeting with Peru in Orlando on Saturday, 19-year-old Orlando City attacker Justin Ellis headed home the opener to mark his first appearance for his country.
Ellis sprinted toward the near corner to celebrate, then turned to face “the wall”, the nickname given to the US supporters’ section behind the goal. He was quickly joined by Villarreal defender Alex Freeman, another Orlando City product and a former teammate. For a moment the pair posed arm in arm, gazing up at the home crowd, before embracing, laughing and attempting to head back to the centre circle. Gio Reyna, who had supplied the assist, shoved Ellis back toward the fans.
“Celebrating that goal with Alex – it was ridiculous,” Ellis told reporters afterwards. “He’s like family to me. It was unbelievable … I think Gio also just understood the moment, being back home in front of the wall, it was just super special.”
That kind of unforced, playful connection ran through the evening, and it was not entirely a surprise. The US rolled out 11 newcomers, one player short of the program’s all-time record, and the game carried a carefree, free-spirited energy that made it an ideal palate-cleanser for supporters still processing the team’s crashout against Belgium in the last 16 of the World Cup – arguably the most important match the US had played in years. Saturday’s fixture carried no stakes at all, closer to a fact-finding mission than a competitive test, which is precisely what made it so pleasant to watch.
What made it enjoyable was how familiar the young players already looked to one another. Ellis and Reyna were not the only two on the same wavelength. Cavan Sullivan, the 16-year-old long billed as American soccer’s next big thing, threatened throughout his 60-minute shift, while Julian Hall scored the third goal on his debut, crashing the back post on a Sebastian Berhalter cross as though the two had been club teammates for years.
“In the language of football, good players do not need much time together,” Pochettino said afterwards. “They only need a few training sessions. It’s the same if they don’t have quality – you can train them for a year and that natural, organic connection never happens … I feel really proud [for Cavan.] 16 years old? Performing and fighting and playing with personality and character? I am so happy with him …. There’s no doubt that he’s very smart, he’s so great, he just needs time. Like [any of the other newcomers.]”
Sullivan has spent years under the microscope, the subject of rampant speculation and an unusually high level of media attention given the sometimes dim spotlight on American club soccer. He described the occasion in simpler terms. “It was a really special day,” he told reporters. “For me, my family, it’s crazy. It is crazy that I represent my country at the highest level, with the men’s national team. I am just really happy to have done this – it was a really amazing night.”
Pochettino had spoken at length before the match about how contagious the presence of so many young players had been in camp, and how it had rubbed off on his entire staff. Afterwards he said the postgame sight of players embracing, wandering around to find family members and soaking in the moment gave him goosebumps. “It was amazing,” he said. “We know what it means for these young players that they made their debut. That means a lot for them, but it also means a lot for us … We really are enjoying that fresh energy a lot – how they listen, how they want to improve, how they want to train, we were talking about energy, it’s very contagious. We can win or lose, we can perform OK or we can’t. But we really enjoy the journey together.”
Unlike the program’s previous generational turnover, which took place without many established veterans sticking around, this crop has latched on to those who came before – even when the “vets” are themselves still in their early 20s. Ellis praised his connection with Reyna in his pregame remarks, and other debutants mentioned emulating more senior members of the roster. Pochettino highlighted the way Tyler Adams mixed on the field with 17-year-old Red Bull New York midfielder Adri Mehmeti. “The senior players deserve massive credit in the way that they treat and guide and support and welcome, in the way that they create an environment that’s very comfortable, to feel like home,” he said. “That is I think massive, massive value for us to have these senior players helping in this way.”
Hall, who finds himself at the centre of a tug-of-war between the United States and Poland over his services, had little to say about that on Saturday, choosing instead to savour the occasion. “I grew up with a lot of these guys, playing against them,” he said. “I know how hard they’ve worked, as well as I have, to get to a stage like this. I think we’re just really, really happy to make our debuts and make an impact.”