A new generation takes the field in Orlando
Justin Ellis needed four minutes. The 19-year-old Orlando City forward redirected a Gio Reyna free kick past Peru’s goalkeeper to open the scoring in his senior international debut, and the United States never trailed again in a 4-1 win Saturday that kicked off a new cycle after this summer’s World Cup exit.
Peru equalized in the 15th minute through a Gianluca Lapadula header off a Yoshimar Yotun cross, but Malik Tillman restored the lead from the penalty spot in the 66th minute after Mathis Albert, making his own debut, won the foul. Eighteen-year-old Julian Hall then scored 11 minutes into his debut off a Sebastian Berhalter assist, and Berhalter capped the night himself with a 25-yard strike in the 90th minute.
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Eleven debuts, eight of them teenagers
The lineup that started in Orlando left out several first-team regulars, Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun and Weston McKennie among them, clearing room for a group that averaged 22 caps and an average age of 23 years, six months. Sixteen-year-old Cavan Sullivan became the second-youngest player ever to start for the USMNT, behind only Mike Slivinski in 1991, and the youngest to feature in a match since Freddy Adu in 2006. Defender Peyton Miller also made his first start, while goalkeeper Diego Kochen replaced Matt Freese to open the second half.
Five more players, Neil Pierre, Frankie Westfield, Zavier Gozo, Adri Mehmeti and Brooklyn Raines, all made their first appearances after halftime. Eleven debutants in one match, eight of them teenagers, is not a number this program produces often, and it gave the coaching staff a full look at the depth waiting behind the players who carried the team through the World Cup this summer.
An experienced Peru side with no answers
Peru, who did not qualify for the World Cup, started eight players over 30 and nobody younger than 25. The experience gap showed in the score, not the first quarter of an hour. The result is the first for the United States since a round-of-16 exit to Belgium on July 6, and it hands the program a clear marker for how deep the player pool runs heading into the next round of international matches.
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