ATLANTA (AP) — Francisco Trincão scored in the 37th minute, Joao Félix added another in the 59th and Portugal defeated the United States 2-0 in a friendly Tuesday night, snapping the United States’ eighth straight loss to a European opponent.
American star Christian Pulisic was moved from the wing to the top of the attack, but was unable to capitalize on two good scoring chances.
Pulisic, who only played in the first half, has not scored in eight matches for his national team until November 2024 and 12 matches against AC Milan since December 28.
The United States, which is preparing to co-host the World Cup, has lost consecutive games in Europe, losing 22-6, and has not won in 10 games against continental Europe since 2021.
U.S. national team manager Mauricio Pochettino will announce his World Cup squad on May 26th, and the U.S. national team will play Senegal five days later and Germany in a final warm-up match on June 6th. The U.S. national team opens the World Cup against Australia on June 12th, faces Paraguay a week later, and concludes its opening game against Turkey on June 25th.
In front of a pro-American crowd of 72,297 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Portugal took the lead when American midfielder Weston McKennie dropped a difficult pass from Alex Freeman to Vicinha, who then played a through ball to Bruno Fernandes. As defenders Chris Richards and Auston Trusty converged on the midfielder, he backheeled a pass to Trincan, who took the touch and slotted it past Matt Frees and into the far post for his third international goal.
Felix scored his 12th goal for his country following a corner kick from Fernandes. Freed just outside the penalty area, Felix sent a half-volley home with two bounces that hit the far post.
Former No. 1 goaltender Matt Turner played in Saturday’s game, putting Freeze back in goal after his 12-game starting streak ended. Lost to Belgium 5-2.
Preparing for the World Cup group with Congo, Uzbekistan and Colombia. Portugal is Captain Cristiano Ronaldo (hamstring) missing.
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
