Every week, Dos a Cero will help get you prepped for the best European matches involving the USMNT star players.
We rate matches on how interesting they are for USMNT fans, based on:
1) How big a star the player is, and how confident we are he will play
2) How interesting the match is from a neutral perspective
This week, our Match of the Week features Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah of AC Milan taking on Parma. We expect Pulisic to have more room to operate against Parma’s back 4 than he did against Torino’s back 3/5 last week. Milan reinforced their midfield this week with the signing Youssouf Fofana, putting pressure on Musah to continue to play. This will be FIRST EVER Serie A match on broadcast TV in America – so let’s do our part to pump up the ratings.
Here are the other top matches (in chronological order) featuring USMNT talent this weekend:
1) Scally and Monchengladbach take on defending Bundesliga champs Bayer Leverkusen. Scally’s stock with USMNT is on the rise after his performance against Vini Jr. in the Brazil friendly this summer. On Friday he’ll take on another young superstar winger in Germany’s Florian Wirtz.
2) We take a visit to England’s second tier, the Championship in our next match. News broke this week that Weah’s quad injury is likely to keep him out until after the September international break. We’ll have an open spot on the wing in those friendlies, which Wright has a great chance to fill. The Championship is often called the most competitive league in Europe, so a good watch is likely.
3) Richards is still young for a CB (24) so we want track his development, as he has potential to be much better by 2026. He’ll match up against Füllkrug – a bruiser with a cannon of a left foot, and Summerville – a pacey winger who competed with Brenden Aaronson for PT in their Leeds days.
4) Balogun missed two big chances in week one and could use a bounce back game against Lyon. Tanner Tessman – who impressed us a lot in the Olympics – has reportedly agreed to personal terms for a transfer to Lyon. We’ll also be watching to see how he’d fit in their midfield.
most recent usmnt Player Updates
10.4 – Weekend Recap
The last match window before the USMNT all gather in Austin for Pochettino’s first camp was action packed.
Pulisic scored, and was Milan’s best player, again! It’s almost every game this year he’s been either the best player by the data or as voted by fans. …But we get some bad vibes from his teammates twice stripping him of the PK responsibility against the coach’s orders. Theo Hernandez and Tammy Abraham both had their PKs saved by David de Gea – so they probably should have let Pulisic, who is 10/10 in his career, take them.
September 2024 “team of the month”
This is basically how the USMNT would line up in our first matches under Pochettino – if he made his decisions based ONLY on current club form. He obviously won’t do that – but it’s a cool way to look at who is playing well, and who isn’t, for the USMNT.
10.4 – Weekend preview
Best matches of the weekend, brought to you by #DosACero. This is the final match window before the guys head to #Austin for the FIRST CAMP WITH POCHETTINO. Here’s hoping for a strong set of performances, with everyone coming in hot. LFG!