USMNT-Peru: Key takeaways from a wildly entertaining return

Kudos are for midfielder Mathis Albert, too. The 17-year-old came on as a substitute in the 61st minute and earned the USMNT a penalty kick just five minutes later. It was veteran Malik Tillman who converted the shot, but it was absolutely Albert who made it happen—and he was a force in the center of the park after that, too.

And 18-year-old striker Julian Hall? He opened his USMNT account just eleven minutes after getting subbed onto the field with a cool finish that belied his lack of international experience.

Playmakers need finishers and vice versa—and the USMNT didn't quite nail the balance between the two

For all of Ellis's industry, though, he was just one man of eleven on the field for the USMNT in the first half. The rest of the team's starting attackers—Reyna, Sullivan and Tillman—were all playmakers, not finishers, and there was a clear imbalance between the two camps. 

The USMNT was able to create plenty of chances, but with Ellis not always available or in position to convert them, it wasn't able to bring those chances over the line with any regularity. Take some solace in this, though: if Folarin Balogun had been playing in this match, he probably would've had a first-half brace. His teammates were able to pull together a whopping eight shots and 17 touches inside Peru's box in the opening 45.

In the second half, though, things changed for the better. Pochettino flipped the balance firmly in favor of finishers, bringing on Zavier Gozo and Julian Hall for Reyna and Sullivan, and the two were able to create delicious, direct chaos in Peru's box to close out the match. 

The optimal balance for the USMNT is probably somewhere in the middle of what we saw in these two halves. Pochettino still needs to find it—but he has three more friendly games in this window to make it happen.

The team found strength in compact, lateral movement

The USMNT spent much of this match in a tight, wide block that moved up and down the field with intention. It wasn't a high press, exactly—it retreated into its own half just as often as it moved into Peru's—but rather an intentional attempt to control the game laterally and keep Peru from building through it. The move worked brilliantly, especially in the first half, and helped the USMNT keep the ball better than it tends to in experimental friendlies like this one.

Alex Freeman and Sebastian Berhalter showed just how far they've come as national team players

The first half was something of a grind for the USMNT, but much of its best work came through Villarreal right back Alex Freeman. With just two center backs behind him and a lot of attacking work in front of him, Freeman had to cover a frankly astounding amount of ground, and he managed it all with cool-headed professionalism.

Freeman, the youngest member of the USMNT's 2026 World Cup squad, plays like a veteran—but it's worth remembering that he's still just 22 years old (and just 23 caps into his national team career). With all the talk about the team's fascinating new prospects, we'd do well to remember that perhaps our greatest prospect of the past five years is already a known quantity.

And while Sebastian Berhalter is older than Freeman—25 to his 22—his rise within the USMNT has been similarly astounding. He capped off a stellar second-half performance with a goal and an assist, the former of which was a now-trademark rocket from well outside the penalty area. In just one year, Berhalter has made his name synonymous with industry, grit and thunderous long-distance strikes. The USMNT is very lucky to have him.

The USMNT will continue its international window on Tuesday, Sept. 29, against Chile in St. Louis, Missouri.