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USMNT analysis

Analysis: USMNT downs Venezuela 3-1, looks ahead to Costa Rica

ASN's Brian Sciaretta looks back on the U.S team's win over Venezuela to open 2025 and looks ahead to the Costa Rica friendly in Orlando on Wednesday. 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
January 21, 2025
7:00 AM

THE UNITED STATES National team opened its 2025 campaign with a convincing 3-1 win over Venezuela and will continue that with a Wednesday friendly against Costa Rica. We won’t be able to draw firm conclusions until camp is over, but the early signs are encouraging and Mauricio Pochettino was surely encouraged.

Historically, January camp has been very important. Some of the best players in history of the program took their first national team steps during the ensuing friendlies. With the national team being exceptionally young in starting the second half of last cycle, there are fewer spots on the national team.

But as the national team eventually returns to having a typical age curve amongst its player pool, January camp will return to being very important. While some of players involved in this current camp might not be ready for a full spot on the national team now, those spots could open in the years ahead.

In the 3-1 win over Venezuela, the U.S. team was sharper than in previous January camps. Yes, there was some rust – but that is to be expected with all the players having yet to start preseason. But overall, things were a bit sharper, a bit crisper, and a bit more intense. To be sure, Venezuela was not a good team but the U.S. team had a decent performance under its own merits. 

The U.S. team got goals from Jack McGlynn, Patrick Agyemang, and Matko Miljevic. For each player, it was their first international goal.

But here are my thoughts on the game.

USMNT thoughts vs. Venezuela

McGlynn helped his case the most: This isn’t necessarily and earthshattering conclusion, but it needs to be said. McGlynn got on the ball a lot with 104 touches and he dictated the game. He played people into dangerous areas and he kept possession. His best moment, of course, came when he opened the scoring with a fantastic bomb of a shot from distance. He then assisted on the third and final goal.

 

The question for McGlynn, however, has always been about his ability to help a team that isn’t dominating possession. We’ve seen this with the U.S. youth national teams and the Philadelphia Union – when his team is controlling the ball, McGlynn can deliver and help turn possession into scoring chances.

But the bigger question comes in games where there needs to be defense or when midfielders have less time on the ball. That is when it becomes more difficult for McGlynn. This game against Venezuela played to his strengths but didn’t tell us whether he’s reversed his weaknesses.

McGlynn could very well be sold this window. Hopefully he will find a place that allows him to succeed as well as work on his weaknesses as a player.

As for future USMNT call-ups, it’s possible and it could defend on how healthy and in-form other options are. But he is clearly in the mix and he’s in a better position now than before.

 

Agyemang was dangerous: Charlotte forward Patrick Agyemang had a good game and this comes on the heels of a good season where he scored 10 goals in MLS play. Against Venezuela, he drew a penalty, scored his own goal, and was physically dominant.

It was a smart choice to call up Agyemang and should put him more in the spotlight this year. As for the U.S. national team moving forward, he is behind many others but he’s behind others that are either injured now or have been injured for long stretches this season. Ricardo Pepi seems like the top choice. But Folarin Balogun and Haji Wright are injured. Josh Sargent is only now just returning. Brandon Vazquez is not locked into any spot in the pecking order. If the injuries linger, Agyemang might find his way onto the Nations League team to backup Pepi.

 

Long term, caps and goals are important for building value for a transfer price. This didn’t hurt Agyemang.

Miljevic’s down and then up performance: Matko Miljevic was a controversial call-up given his behavioral issues. But I suspect that Pochettino might value players who are edgy and can be confrontational. Miljevic might push things too far (and in Montreal, it was way too far) but he has always had talent.

Miljevic, 23, was poor at the start of the game and missed a penalty as well as another big chance to score. But then he settled down and eventually scored the team’s third goal on a nice shot from just outside the box on a counterattack.

 

Miljevic ultimately helped his case, but so much of his career is dependent on him finding a groove with his new club, Huracan, and staying out of trouble. If he does well there, Pochettino might be intrigued to take another look.

Who else played well or poorly? Aside from the goal scorers, I felt that left back Max Arfsten had a good game pushing the ball into the attack and getting into space well. He strikes me as one of the more underrated American players in the MLS pool. His breakout with Columbus came just a bit too late for him to compete for a spot on the Olympic team last year. Caden Clark helped his case after resurrecting his career in Montreal last year. People can forget how talented he was when he came up with the Red Bulls. It will be curious to see how he does over a full season. Benja Cremaschi had some nice moments but ultimately belongs as a leader on the U.S. U-20 team.

Shaq Moore was mostly at fault for the Venezuelan goal when he didn’t get over and defend the corner kick quick enough. Miles Robinson tried to get over and help, but was a bit late but the ultimate responsibility falls on Moore.

In the midfield, Brian Gutierrez wasn’t as dynamic as he needed to be. He wasn’t poor, but he didn’t stand out.

Patrick Schulte was not tested. He didn’t have to make any big saves and there wasn’t much he could do on the goal.

 

Other thoughts, Pre Costa-Rica

 

Expect there to be heavy turnover for the Costa Rica friendly. Walker Zimmerman and Tim Ream should start as they are leading players at this camp. Pochettino will likely also want to look at either Zack Steffen or Matt Freese to get a clear idea what the pecking order is of his goalkeepers.

Diego Luna came off the bench against Venezuela but could start against Costa Rica. Miljevic and Luna might be in direct competition with each other, so Luna should be motivated to play. I also think Brian White will get the chance to showcase himself and he should be motivated after being one of the top American scorers in MLS over the last several season.

On a final note, McGlynn might not start in this game after working extremely hard against Venezuela. The fact that players are still just starting preseason likely makes it hard for them to start twice in four days. But McGlynn should feel motivated if he comes in a sub  knowing he is climbing the ladder quickly on the USMNT depth chart.

But there is also the issue of Ireland. Their national team is monitoring him and while MCGlynn said he is only focused on the USMNT, he might only be willing to wait so long.

 

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