Soccer
The opponent, the head coach and many of the faces on the pitch were different. Yet the 2-0 scoreline, the noisy, intimate venue and the warm welcome from the faithful felt like a familiar blanket, reminding the US men’s national team why Columbus has been their program’s spiritual home for more than a quarter-century.
After Tuesday’s solid, stabilizing 2-0 win over Japan at Lower.com Field, Mauricio Pochettino gamely insisted that the process was what mattered most, a process that won’t really reach its conclusion until their FIFA 2026 World Cup campaign kicks off in Inglewood, California next summer.
Still, there was no mistaking the priceless power of a timely, deserved victory.
“It just shows us that it’s working,” New York City FC goalkeeper Matt Freese told TNT’s postgame show after his third clean sheet in US colors. “We all believe in the plan and the process. But tangible results like tonight, really, it just makes it even more obvious.
“When we’re courageous and when we’re aggressive and we play like ourselves, we can hang with the best and play really good stuff. We’re a difficult team to play against when we’re at our best.”
Get-right result
The good vibes always seem to flow a bit more easily in Ohio’s capital city. The Yanks are now 11W-1L-3D all-time in Columbus, where ‘dos a cero’ is both tagline and tradition, and vocal support is a point of local pride.
There have been so many headwinds for so much of Pochettino’s year in charge: falling short in Concacaf Nations League and Gold Cup, off-field drama around prominent players, seven straight losses against highly-ranked opponents, including to Son Heung-Min’s South Korea in New Jersey last Saturday.
In that context, this felt like quite a bit more than just a decent friendly W.
A shift to a 3-4-2-1 formation – fittingly, the same shape Wilfried Nancy has utilized to build LDC’s main tenants, the Columbus Crew, into an MLS power – seemed to simplify the tactics and empower US players all over the pitch. The Yanks’ pressing was far more effective, powered by the tenacity and bite that have always been the hallmark of the best USMNT sides.
“We were talking this whole camp about intensity, aggressiveness,” said playmaker Alejandro Zendejas, who grabbed with both hands the opportunity presented to him after long periods out of the squad. “We talked about it before the game, that we got to be intense on pressing, aggressiveness and all that.
“It’s crazy to take all this in,” he added. “Honestly, I didn’t expect to get called up, but luckily, man, God’s timing, and, yeah, trying to take advantage of every opportunity I get, because you don’t get that many.”
Magisterial play from Arfsten & Zendejas. ????pic.twitter.com/0LxNMTJFIE
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 10, 2025
Seizing the moment
Perhaps the biggest relief of all? Well-crafted, well-taken goals from Zendejas – off a superb cross by the Crew’s Max Arfsten, looking far more comfortable as a wingback than a fullback – and Folarin Balogun, the latter clinically dispatching Christian Pulisic’s slotted pass, offering vital evidence of class and cohesion in attack.
“It’s a player that we really believe in from day one,” said Pochettino of Arfsten, “because I’ve seen in the way that he is, his character, his personality, the characteristics of this player, I think it’s a combo that we really love.
“The potential is massive, and he’s performed really well.”
If Arfsten always had Poch’s attention, Zendejas has had to wait far longer for his moment under the microscope, despite several seasons of excellence for LIGA MX giants Club América. The FC Dallas product may have vaulted up the depth chart on this outing alone.
“With this type of performance,” said Pochettino, “he’s in the race for the roster of the World Cup.”
How do you say ‘dos a cero’ in Japanese? ???? pic.twitter.com/lPWJg8TiLK
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 10, 2025
Morale boost
By the game’s final stages, a squad that looked so ponderous and plodding over the weekend was pouring forward with real verve, substitutes like Jack McGlynn and Diego Luna tangibly hungry to add their names to the scoresheet.
“Confidence, you know? I think it’s really important,” said Balogun, a late addition to the roster whose absence from the initial list now looks almost ludicrous. “Results are, at the end of the day, the sort of industry we’re in.
“We were just more connected together. We was obviously more clinical as well, in both boxes, and that’s what the coach wanted us to do.”
Now both the USMNT and their supporters can look ahead to October’s friendlies vs. Ecuador (at Austin FC‘s Q2 Stadium) and Australia (at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, home of the Colorado Rapids) with brighter eyes and calmer dispositions.
“I spoke after our game against South Korea about giving the fans some good news before we split away from camp,” said Balogun. “We’re building something big here, obviously a top coach, and it takes time, and he tried to emphasize that to us, to be patient.
“But at the end of the day, the result’s the most important thing.”
Read MoreRaleigh Haslett