USMNT beats Oman in a game highlighted by offense
The team closed out the September international window with a 4-0 victory
Three days after beating Uzbekistan, the United States closed out September's international window on Tuesday with a 4-0 victory in a friendly against Oman at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minn.
Folarin Balogun opened the scoring after just 13 minutes, while second-half substitute Brenden Aaronson doubled the lead in the 60th minute off a free kick. Fellow sub Ricardo Pepi added a third goal in the 79th later before an own goal two minutes later by the visitors completed the rout.
Aaronson and Pepi’s strikes took the total number of goals scored by USMNT substitutes this year to 10, just one behind the team record of 11 set in 2011. For Pepi, it marked his ninth all-time goal for the U.S. at senior level and sixth in six games this year alone.
The win came after the U.S. defeated Uzbekistan 3-0 on Saturday night at CityPark in St. Louis.
U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter changed things up against Oman: Ethan Horvath started in goal in place of Nottingham Forest teammate Matt Turner, Kristoffer Lund played left back for Antonee Robinson, Miles Robinson in central defense for Tim Ream and Malik Tillman in midfield replaced Luca de la Torre.
Like in the game against Uzbekistan, it took the USMNT until the second half to put the game away. While the opposition wasn’t top-ranked, U.S. midfielder Weston McKennie said the friendlies were helpful in giving the players experience togather.
“These type of teams, Oman and Uzbekistan, are teams that we could have in a group in the World Cup and those are the teams that you ultimately sometimes have to watch out for,” he told reporters. “With other teams, you can kind of get a feeling, OK, Germany we know how they're going to come out.”
The U.S. will co-host the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico. As a result, all three nations qualify automatically as hosts.
The USMNT returns to action next month with a pair of friendlies. On Oct. 14, they take on Germany at Pratt & Whitney Stadium in East Hartford, Conn., before facing Ghana three days later at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn.