I’d like to say that this year has been a great one for the United States Men’s National Team, but it really hasn’t been. It wasn’t a bad year either, though. There were moments of good, moments of bad, and moments of pure meh – all of which have made this year a very interesting one to break down.

The Good

Christian Pulisic

Pulisic has been a star overseas with both Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea, but more importantly he has played spectacularly for his country. The 5’7” midfielder from Pennsylvania put up five goals and three assists while appearing in just 11 of the teams 19 games during the year, highlighted by a two-goal effort against Jamaica in the Gold Cup semifinals in July.

Pulisic was recently awarded the 2019 U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year award, the second of his young career with the first coming in 2017. Pulisic, though just 21 years old, has proven himself to be the brightest star on the USMNT. His ability to maintain control of the ball and his speed have set him apart from many – especially his teammates – on the international stage. It will be exciting to see what Pulisic is able to do in the years to come.

Victory over Panama

In Gregg Berhalter’s first match as the new head coach, the U.S. defeated Panama 3-0 in Glendale, Arizona on January 27th in their first game of the year. The U.S. took the late in the first half and then added two late goals to get Berhalter’s first victory.

It was a nice way to start the year, with a solid win over a team that featured in last summer’s World Cup. It also set a good tone for the team to follow during the season, showing the U.S could play well against good competition.

Winning the Group Stage of the Nations League

The U.S was able to overcome the difficulties they had previously faced, and come out victorious of Group A of the CONCACAF Nations League. This was significant for two reasons: we slapped Cuba around (7-0) and got revenge on the Canadian team (4-1).

Though it should have been expected that the U.S would win their group, the loss to Canada a month prior cast a high level of doubt on the situation. The USMNT showed resilience and creativity in the win against Canada – two things they had been criticized leading into the Nations League.

The Bad

Losses to Mexico

Sometimes the U.S just doesn’t play well, and it seems to happen more often than not these days. This was the case in the two losses to Mexico during 2019. Mexico is no slouch – FIFA puts them at 11th in the world in their current rankings – but the United States has just as much potential to beat them now as they have in the past.

The first loss was during the Gold Cup final (which we will discuss a little later) on July 7th. With a trophy on the line, the U.S. came up short in heartbreaking 1-0 loss, the lone goal of the match coming in the 79th minute. What was most disappointing with that loss was that Mexico was without many of its stars – Carlos Vela and Chicharito just to name a few – basically amounting to a loss against a squad of mostly B-list players. The second loss came in a friendly on September 6th, and it was much worse than the first. The U.S were shutout again, losing 3-0 in front of nearly 50,000 fans on home soil in New Jersey.

Though Mexico is a good team, the U.S. should be right there with them at the top of CONCACAF. Now with a poor showing against their biggest international rivals, one has to wonder if the U.S. is losing ground as one of the top teams in the region.

Losses to Jamaica, Venezuela

In the span of four days the USMNT dropped matches to both Jamaica and Venezuela. Jamaica managed to score just one goal and win, shutting the United States out in Washington D.C. Venezuela managed to score not one, not two, but three goals, while also shutting out the U.S. Not great.

Venezuela was expected to be on par with the United States – FIFA ranks the U.S No. 22 and Venezuela at 25 in their most current world rankings – but Jamaica was not expected to look anything like they did during their match against the U.S. The pair of losses showcased the lack of consistency that has plagued this year’s USMNT as it has in years past.

USMNT: RSL’s Savarino scores in Venezuela win; Gold Cup up next for U.S.

Losing to the North

The U.S entered into the Oct. 15th matchup against Canada with a 34 year, 17-game winning streak against the Canadians. Instead of extending the streak they were shutout, losing 2-0 in the nation’s capital.

There is little explanation needed here – they were shutout by a team they have beaten consistently for decades. After the loss, there were several (deserved) questions about the dedication of the team, of the coach and what the future held.

Although the U.S. got revenge against Canada a month later, an end to a dominant 34-year run cast a shadow over 2019.

The “Meh”

Gold Cup runners-up

As was mentioned earlier, the U.S suffered a 1-0 loss to Mexico during the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

While the Gold Cup does involve several teams, 16 to be exact, the only two teams ranked in the top 25 in the world are the U.S and Mexico. Only Mexico, the United States and Canada have ever won the tournament, with the Canadians winning just once.

The United States, in order to take a bigger step towards relevance on the world stage (or at least staying relevant), needed to win to show that they could compete with elite teams. Instead, the USMNT often played sloppily, beating Panama by a 1-0 score in the group stage and struggling to beat Curacao in the quarterfinals – you’re lying if you say you can find Curacao on a map, or maybe even heard of it at all – and failed to perform completely against Mexico in the finals.

If you want to be an elite team and continue to stay atop with Mexico in the region, then you have to beat elite teams in bigger games; not fail to show up against your biggest rivals in a game with a trophy and bragging rights on the line.

Draws Against Chile and Uruguay

Chile and Uruguay are tough competition – both teams manage to play the game at a very high level and boast stars on some of the most prestigious clubs in the world. It’s a good thing to be competitive against these teams. What makes this a “meh” thing was that it was totally possible for the U.S to win both of these games.

Against Chile, Christian Pulisic scored in the fourth minute, while the equalizing goal came in the ninth. That means there were nearly 70 minutes left in the game for just one more score; something I’m sure that most thought was on the way after seeing Pulisic score so quickly. Expectations aside, there was no go-ahead score, just over an hour of missed shots and slow possessions, and the game ended 1-1.

The match versus Uruguay was just as pedestrian; the U.S didn’t score until an equalizer until the 79th minute off the foot of Jordan Morris. Uruguay had already scored in the 50th minute, but weren’t able to add another. The match was the prime definition of “meh”- a 1-1 game in which neither team plays at their best level.

Conclusion

Such wraps up the year and the decade for the United States National Men’s Team. There were highs and lows in 2019 just like the past decade, but there are some positives the team can build on in 2020 and beyond.

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