Malik Tillman and Diego Luna were silver linings in the dark clouds of the United States men’s national team’s friendly losses to Turkiye and Switzerland earlier this month, and they led the way in sweeping them out of the sky — at least for a few days — on Sunday.
The USMNT opened its Gold Cup with a 5-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago that snapped a four-game losing skid across all competitions, as Tillman scored twice and Luna had two assists in building a three-goal halftime lead.
MORE — USMNT 5-0 T&T recap, video highlights
The vibes are much-improved ahead of Thursday’s meeting with Saudi Arabia, and Mauricio Pochettino will hope that Tillman’s limp late in the second half was just a knock as the PSV Eindhoven midfielder looks key to the program’s 2025 Gold Cup hopes.
Here’s how we saw the player ratings from Sunday’s five-goal win.
USMNT player ratings versus Trinidad and Tobago
Matt Freese: 7 — One slip-up in judgment, but two saves and 15-of-15 passing will do just fine.
Max Arfsten: 7 — Many will expect to see a higher number here, as Arfsten had two assists and was a constant presence in the attack. But he again looked his age in his own end and that will be a huge question against better oppositon.
Tim Ream: 7.5 — Calm, solid, well-positioned.
Chris Richards (Off 87'): 7 — Very good in almost all of his moments over 87 minutes, but two of his weak moments helped yield T&T’s best chances.
Alex Freeman: 7 — Passed the ball well and was excellent in the duel, but he also lost Dante Seely on what would’ve been a goal had Freese not got a hand on the cross.
Sebastian Berhalter: 6 — Good with the ball but struggled in 50/50 situations. Still fine and has not been a problem in any of the three games this break.
Luca de la Torre (Off 83'): 7 — Steady day with and without the ball.
Diego Luna (Off 74'): 8.5 — Fantastic. The hunger recalls a bygone era of USMNT, and the playmaking ability is timeless. He looks like a potential game-changing sub at the World Cup, but putting a ceiling on his playing time is silly. Let’s see how he does against Saudi Arabia and then in the knockout rounds, because he’s too much for T&T and (likely) Haiti.
Malik Tillman: 9 — Tillman is in an elite class amongst this group. He matched McGlynn with four created chances, passed at 91%, scored two goals, and made seven recoveries. Right now he’s earned a chance to start with the so-called A-team.
Jack McGlynn (Off 74'): 7.5 — Brilliant assist as one of four created chances (according to fotmob.com)
Patrick Agyemang (Off 74'): 7 — The goal was right-place, right-time, but he had earned a place on the score sheet with his other four shot attempts. The Rhode Island graduate is a force and Pochettino clearly likes what he sees from Agyemang.
Subs
Haji Wright (On 74') : 7.5 — Scored a great goal. Likely deserves a start but Agyemang isn’t opening the door.
Mark McKenzie (On 74'): N/A
Brenden Aaronson (On 74'): 7 — Nice to see him back on the score sheet.
Paxten Aaronson (On 83'): N/A
Miles Robinson (On 87'): N/A
