THE UNITED STATES U-23 team defeated a very good Japan team 4-1 in Phoenix to cap its first camp in preparations for the 2024 Olympics. It wasn’t pretty in the early parts of the game, but the U.S. got goals from Johan Gomez, Paxten Aaronson, Aidan Morris, and Duncan McGuire to seal the convincing scoreline.

The U.S. team defeated Mexico 2-1 in its opening game of camp, but Japan defeated Mexico 4-1 to signal that the U.S. team would have its hands full on Tuesday night. Head coach Marko Mitrovic instead opted to change his entire starting XI from the Mexico game except for the central defenders.

That indeed was the case. The United States took the lead in the 5^th minute when Japan committed a terrible turnover in the middle of their own half. This sprung Benja Cremaschi into the attack. Cremaschi fed Paxten Aaronson into the box on the left side. Aaronson was then able to play the ball back to the middle and Johan Gomez was able to tap it home from the doorstep and a 1-0 lead.

This is how the US U-23 team took the lead on Japan
- bad Japan turnover to Cremaschi.
- Aaronson to Gomez pic.twitter.com/trpVwp2DPb

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) October 18, 2023

The problem then for the U.S. team is that Japan would completely control the game for the next 30 minutes. Japan equalized off a corner later in the first half and continued to be the more dangerous team, by far.

But around the 35^th minute, the U.S. team began to settle the game down. Two first half subs played a huge role in that with Bernard Kamungo replacing Indiana Vassilev at right wing and Brandan Craig replacing the injured Maximillian Dietz in central defense. Those players stretched the field and improved the team’s ability to pass and control the ball. That directly resulted in the team’s second goal just before halftime when Craig hit a terrific long ball to Kamungo, who then found Aaronson for a close finish.

Brandan Craig does what he does best. Fantastic long ball out of the back.
- Finds Bernard Kamungo up the right side.
- The FC Dallas winger sends it to Paxten Aaronson for a tap in

2-1 USA over Japan at HT pic.twitter.com/v6bevlAt9d

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) October 18, 2023

In the second half, the U.S. team controlled the game. The mass substitutions brought stability and maturity to the U.S. team. Japan only had one opportunity in the 55^th minute when they had a close range shot smack the crossbar and bounce out. Then two minutes later, the U.S. team moved 3-1 up on a goal from Aidan Morris.

Here is how Aidan Morris gave the USA a 3-1 lead on Japan, assist from Reynolds.. minutes after Japan hit the crossbar pic.twitter.com/2khHZoRsmH

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) October 18, 2023

The U.S. team continued to dominate into the second half and Duncan McGuire drew a free kick about 30 yards out. Jack McGlynn took the ensuing kick and McGuire slid it into the net with one touch to complete the scoring.

Duncan McGuire with the 4th goal for the U.S U-23 team. The U.S team has come on strong after a tough first 35 minutes.

Love the celebration from Big Duncan pic.twitter.com/muTnr56zDV

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) October 18, 2023

The U.S. team nearly added a fifth goal when Gianluca Busio had a 1v1 with the keeper but was stripped of the ball when attempting to round the keeper.

But the U.S. team concluded camp with two wins, a 2-1 victory over Mexico followed by a 4-1 victory over Japan.

Here are a few thoughts on the Japan game and the big picture.

Craig & Kamungo changed game

The U.S. team started off slowly against Japan despite scoring an early opening goal against the run of play. But gradually grew into the game nicely. While all the subs generally performed well, the two first half subs helped the most to at least start the positive trend. Brandan Craig came into the game around the 30^th minute in central defense and his passing was very important to helping the team be more connected through the midfield and even into the attack.

Craig has had a tough season earning minutes for Philadelphia and later on loan to Austin, but the U-20 World Cup showed that he is an excellent passer out of the backline. It wasn’t just the accurate long-ball he played out of the back to set up the goal, it was just his steady presence to hold the ball and allow the midfield to move into better positions to receive the ball.

Bernard Kamungo had one of the most surprisingly positive camps on the roster. He assisted off the bench for the second goal against Mexico, and he came off the bench to assist the second goal against Japan. He then later was part of the build-up to the team’s third goal.

There is a lot of competition on this U-23 team with the wings – both from players in this camp and from players who were either with the full national team (Kevin Paredes) or not released (Cade Cowell), but Kamungo has given himself a great chance to compete.

Rotations provide a picture

The United States was stronger in the first half against Mexico than it was in the second half. Then against Japan, the team was stronger as the subs egan to enter the game. Between the two games, the U.S. team started completely ifferent starting lineups except for central defense – where numbers are thin.

To add on that, there was growing evidence that between the two games, there is a sizable overlap of players that correspond to when the team was at its strongest. Generally, the starting lineup for the Mexico game and the subs for the Japan game correspond to strong play. Most, but not all, of those players should probably feel better about how their camp went.

Against Mexico, the U.S. team was very impressive to start the game several players stood out in that first half.

• Duncan McGuire
• Taylor Booth
• Brian Gutierrez
• Jack McGlynn
• Tanner Tessmann
• Gianluca Busio
• John Tolkin
• Maximillian Dietz
• Esmir Bajraktarevic (who subbed into the game before scoring in the first half).

In the Japan game, the U.S. team was flat early against a good Japan team. Still, Paxten Aaronson had a goal and an assist in those 45 minutes. Brian Reynolds brought some veteran experience at right back. Bernard Kamungo also subbed into the game around the 30^th minute and was very impressive on the right wing. The same could be said for central defender Brandan Craig came into the game in the 30^th minute and helped ease the team of pressure through his solid passing.

The two starting goalkeepers, Patrick Schulte and Chris Brady also both helped their case.

This doesn’t mean anyone not listed is out and it doesn’t mean anyone who I listed is in. Certain players like Benja Cremaschi and Obed Vargas (along with Bajraktarevic, who was a difference maker against Mexico) are still top prospects but naturally have an uphill climb due to playing up an entire U-23 cycle.  

But those players listed trended positively over both games.

A look to November

The November U.S. U-23 camp is going to be a step up. Mitrovic said that this camp was going to be simple and basic, but he also said the team is going to have to grow quickly.

There are only four camps for this team. The next camp will probably see a few players from this camp not called back as Mitrovic will likely start to whittle down his player pool a little bit. Plus, Mitrovic is going to have to look at a few players he was unable to call-up this camp. George Campbell, Agustin Anello, Gaga Slonina, Josh Wynder, Cade Cowell are five possible names. There are also injured players such as Rokas Pukstas, Griffin Yow, and Jalen Neal that are also options if they are healthy in time for camp.

Mitrovic also says he discusses the roster for U-23 camps with Berhalter and there is significant overlap between the two teams. There are players who can go either way that could fall into the discussion of playing for the U-23 team. Age-eligible players like Gio Reyna and Yunus Musah are almost certainly never to play with the U.S. U-23 team. Joe Scally, Kristoffer Lund, and Ricardo Pepi are not impossible to play for the U-23 team but are still unlikely.

But there is an overlap for other players who are in the middle and could go either way. This includes players like Kevin Paredes or Johnny Cardoso.

Then there are overage options. Will Mitrovic being exploring potential overage players? He has said he wants to do this “quite soon” but also said he needed to evaluate the U-23 options first.

Regardless, the biggest takeaway is that Mitrovic can use this positive camp with two wins to build an acceptable starting point. If this camp had not gone well, Mitrovic would have to go back to the drawing board and reset. But this camp gives him a good starting point and a foundation.

Expect a healthy number of these players to be back again in November with momentum at their back.