Washington (AFP) – Alex Zendejas and Folarin Balogun scored to give the United States a 2-0 victory over Japan on Tuesday in an international football friendly. Zendejas scored in the 30th minute, and Monaco striker Balogun added an insurance goal in the 64th minute, as the Americans improved to 7-6 with one draw this year, with the triumph occurring before 20,192 fans at Columbus, Ohio.
“Just waiting for my moment,” said Zendejas, a winger for Mexico’s Club America. “It’s crazy to take all this in. I didn’t expect to get called up. Just trying to take advantage of every opportunity.” Mexico was set to face South Korea at a later friendly in Nashville, Tennessee. All four teams have qualified for next year’s World Cup, with Japan and South Korea securing their spots through Asian qualifying, and the USA and Mexico qualifying as co-hosts along with Canada for the global showdown.
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South Korea beat the Americans 2-0 on Saturday, the same day Japan and Mexico played to a goal-less draw. Japan swapped out all 11 starters from the Mexico draw, while US coach Mauricio Pochettino changed five starters from the South Korea defeat. Japan goalkeeper Keisuke Osako made nine saves in a losing cause, while Matt Freese had six for the shutout.
“It shows us that it’s working,” Freese said of the triumph. “We all believe in the plan and the process, but tangible results like tonight make it even more obvious. When we’re courageous and we go, when we’re aggressive and play like ourselves, we can hang with the best and play really good stuff. We’re a difficult team to play against when we’re at our best.”
The Americans grabbed a 1-0 lead when Max Arfsten’s cross from the left wing into the heart of the box was struck with a left-footed volley by Zendejas into the lower left corner of the goal. “Luckily the ball came my way,” Zendejas said. “Coming to my left, I had to finish that.” Balogun netted the other goal, taking a through ball down the left side from Christian Pulisic and blasting a left-footed shot from a steep angle into the far side of the goal.
“It was important to get the win,” Balogun said. “We’re building something big here. It takes time. The result was the most important thing. Confidence. I think it’s really important. I feel happy with the team’s performance.”
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