EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — When referee Joel Aguilar pointed to the spot after Jordan Morris was barged over in the box, Christian Pulisic picked up the ball.
Many in the announced crowd of 47,960 thought the Chelsea midfielder would take the penalty kick himself. Instead, he flipped the ball to Josh Sargent with a simple message to the Werder Bremen forward:
“Take it.”
Sargent took his penalty kick well, but Jonathan Orozco was better, diving to his right to parry it away. It marked the last — and best — chance the US national team had to score in what finished a 3-0 loss to Mexico at MetLife Stadium.
“He was very confident in me,” Sargent said of Pulisic. “I was unfortunate not to make that one, but it happens and I look forward to the next one.”
If that next one comes in the USMNT’s next game, it would be a storybook moment for the 19-year-old, in his hometown of St. Louis. That's where the US hope to rebound Tuesday (8 pm ET | FS1, Univision, TUDN) against Uruguay at Busch Stadium in their final September international friendly before next month’s Concacaf Nations League matches.
Sargent, who used being left off Gregg Berhalter’s Concacaf Gold Cup roster as the motivation to have a strong start to the Bundesliga season, is unsure exactly how many friends and family will journey to Busch Stadium, only sure it will be “quite a few.”
And he'll at least face the pressure of a potential appearance in his hometown after spelling Gyasi Zardes for the final 23 minutes Friday night to get his first taste taste of the US-Mexico rivalry on the senior level.
“It was a pretty cool experience, just definitely not our team's night,” Sargent said. “We'll have to look over the game, watch some video and try to figure some things out for the team and try to use that in our next game against Uruguay and hopefully put together a better team performance.”
Berhalter confirmed after the game John Brooks, Zack Steffen, Weston McKennie and Alfredo Morales, who picked up an injury, are all returning to their club teams in Germany. The same is true of Pulisic and New York City FC goalkeeper Sean Johnson.
Without additional players called in, there’s a good chance, considering the circumstances of playing the game in St. Louis, Sargent will get significantly more playing time against Uruguay. He’ll likely be one of several younger players on the USMNT roster to get a good run.
“I think it will be an opportunity for other guys to get on the field,” Berhalter said. “I think that’s an important opportunity as we’re evaluate our player pool, it may be an opportunity for some young guys to get some minutes.”
