For roughly 23 minutes on Saturday in Connecticut, a makeshift U.S. men’s national team was oozing confidence. It was beating Türkiye, 1-0, in its first friendly of the summer. Recent debutants were dueling with established Turkish stars, and winning. This, after months of malaise, and with controversy fueled by missing stars lingering, was precisely what an ailing program needed.
And then, with one careless pass and fluky bounce, all the positive vibes swirled down drains and back to ground zero.
The USMNT ultimately lost to Türkiye, 2-1, at a dripping-wet Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn. It was their third straight loss, and seventh consecutive game against a European foe without a victory. In many ways, it was more of the same — uninspiring, and without progress.
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But it was more so a missed opportunity. Because for two-thirds of the match, this makeshift USMNT outplayed a mostly-full-strength European quarterfinalist. Because of one baffling mistake, though, the U.S. had nothing material to show for it.
The mistake was Johnny Cardoso’s. In the 24th minute, he picked up the ball in his own penalty area; two touches later, he flicked it off the shin of Arda Güler — and it dribbled directly into the corner of the U.S. net.
The foosball-like goal leveled the game at 1-1. And it shook the Americans. “It was an emotional goal,” head coach Mauricio Pochettino said at halftime. In one moment, they were flowing and assured; when the game re-kicked off, they looked deflated.
A couple minutes later, they conceded again, and the good vibes were clearly gone.
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Johnny, who spent the opening 20 minutes playing like the commanding midfielder who’s reportedly off to Atlético Madrid for $30 million, suddenly began gifting possession and counterattacks to his Turkish counterparts.
Max Arfsten and even Diego Luna, who’d been bright spots early on, were also giving the ball away in their defensive half.
U.S. defenders were suddenly shaky on and off the ball. Everyone was hesitant in duels. The game turned on its head, from an impressive U.S. performance to a troubling one.
By the end of 90 minutes, it was more impressive than troubling. “There’s a lot more positives we can take away,” midfielder Tyler Adams told TNT afterwards. Adams replaced Cardoso at halftime, and the USMNT stabilized.
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But its collection of reserves didn’t quite have the quality to find an equalizer.
And so, rather than a jumping-off point for a successful summer, Saturday’s match became another forgettable one, far below the standard that the USMNT will need to meet as it looks toward the 2026 World Cup.
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