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Julian Green was the USMNT's best attacker vs. Cuba, but does it mean anything?
First, the good news for Julian Green: He was the best attacker for the Americans on Friday. Now, the bad news: His solid performance came in an inconsequential friendly against Cuba on a pitch so poor that it makes it very difficult to take much meaning from the match.
Still, it was a long-awaited start for Green after the hype around his USMNT future seemed to have already peaked and died, and the youngster made the most of it. Scoring one goal and setting up another on Friday, Green led the Americans to a 2-0 win over Cuba.
The Bayern Munich striker, playing along the left wing for the Americans, set up Chris Wondolowski’s opening goal of the match. Green cut inside at the top of the box and fired, forcing the double-palmed block by goalkeeper Sandy Sanchez. Wondolowski tapped the rebound in. Ten minutes later, Wondolowski sent a skipping cross past the goal mouth that Green ran onto and finished. It was Green’s first goal since the 2014 World Cup, and his second for the USMNT.
Watch @ChrisWondo's second half strike to give the #USMNT a 1-0 lead against Cuba. #USAvCUB pic.twitter.com/LEkE09iISM
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) October 7, 2016
Watch @J_Green37 finish a well-timed pass from @ChrisWondo for his second career goal. #USAvCUB pic.twitter.com/eRsXA6hGQU
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) October 7, 2016
Green was relentless in his efforts to score on the day, and looked confident doing it. Of the USMNT’s three shots on goal in the first half, they all came from Green, and he finished the day with five of the USMNT's eight shots on goal. In the 23rd minute, Green did well to beat a defender and create a chance by cutting inside to his other foot, cutting back again and firing, but the shot was blocked. His efforts continued into the second half, with a shot off a bounce in the 53rd minute blocked well by a bit of desperate defending.
But his efforts to leave the match with something to show for it cost the USMNT at least once. In the 57th minute, on a 3v2 situation, Green went for the shot instead of a pass, and it was blocked and recovered by Cuba, wasting the moment. It was the wrong decision, but one he would make up for by playing a role in both USA goals.
It’s hard to know what USMNT manager Jurgen Klinsmann will take from Green’s performance. He was aggressive and composed, even as some other players looked rattled by the unpredictable bounces of the bumpy field, and Green made fellow Bundesliga winger Christian Pulisic look ineffective by comparison. But the conditions in Cuba created an ugly, unusual game with the dry, overgrown, patchy field at Estadio Pedro Marrero causing the ball to skip and move slowly.
The 21-year-old’s start on Friday ostensibly came from the injury to Alejandro Bedoya that forced the Philadelphia Union midfielder to withdraw from this USMNT camp. It’s unlikely that Green has pushed himself ahead of Bedoya, who is the USMNT’s go-to right winger with Pulisic seemingly staking claim on the left wing spot.
At the very least, Green may have earned the opportunity get more looks for the USMNT. Going into Friday’s friendly, Green had played just 27 minutes for the USMNT since November 2014. Those minutes came in an equally meaningless friendly against Puerto Rico in May that gave him little opportunity to change his standing with the USMNT. In his first start under his belt since 2014, Green made a strong case as a potential back-up option in the future.
Green was once the next big hope for the USMNT, and he was quickly pushed through the process of gaining American eligibility before being named to the USA’s 2014 World Cup roster. He scored a spectacular goal in that tournament as a substitute against Belgium, when the Americans were eliminated, but he has faded away since then.
The youngster had a thrilling preseason for Bayern Munich, scoring a hat trick in 35 minutes back in July. It’s been good enough to get him on the first team’s roster, which is what he has been chasing after he spent much of last year in Germany's fourth division. But he has spent four games on Bayern’s bench this season and didn’t even dress for the rest of their games. Klinsmann has said he wants to see Green get more minutes before counting on him to play a big role for the USMNT.
His performance on Friday may be a turning point for his national team career though, at least in the near term. Will he be a starter against Mexico on Nov. 11 when the Hex starts? No, almost certainly not. But he may have earned a start against New Zealand next week on a pitch that won’t distract anyone from the performance he puts in. That gives him another chance to push for a spot on the USMNT in games that matter. In that sense, it may be mission accomplished from the youngster on Friday.
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