The USMNT gets a 2-1 win over Australia in their last friendly match of the October international break under Mauricio Pochettino.
The USMNT is undefeated after playing three teams that will play in the 2026 World Cup. The USMNT defeated Japan, drew against Ecuador, and defeated Australia. Pochettino's team will play two more friendlies before the end of the year to continue their World Cup preparations.
One of the captains of the USMNT expressed frustration during the friendly match against Australia. Defender Chris Richards showed tough character against Australia after many intense moments during the match.
There was a total of 26 fouls committed in the match, and one of them led to an injury to Christian Pulisic in the 28th minute.
After the match, Richards expressed how the match could've gone differently for him if he hadn't received a yellow card.
After the match, Richards talked about the tackles from the Australian players and said, "They’re lucky it was a friendly. I was ready to go. And if (the ref) didn’t give me a sh*t yellow in the corner, I probably would’ve killed somebody."
During this international break, Richards made many fans excited to see what the team should be approaching these friendly matches ahead of the World Cup.
Richards surprised many fans when he expressed that he doesn't care that the friendly matches are just for preparation for the World Cup, as he wants the USMNT to approach the games with nastiness.
Richards said, "I think when it comes to on the field, we kind of have to become hard asses, you know? For too long, we kind of knew we were out playing teams, but we're trying to do it the pretty way. And no, it's not always pretty. So I think making sure that you're able to be nasty when you have to be, I think that's something that we kind of try to adapt to our game. Excuse my French, but f*ck a friendly. You gotta go out there and do what you need to do."
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