USA Thrash Uruguay with Five Goals – Brilliant Quick-Restart Strike Opens the Floodgates

The USMNT delivered one of their most dominant performances in recent memory, crushing Uruguay 5–1 in a highly anticipated international friendly. The opening goal came from Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, who punished a momentary defensive lapse with a sharp, instinctive finish. His strike lit the fuse for a ruthless American attack that overwhelmed Uruguay from start to finish.

The United States, led by Mauricio Pochettino, cruised to a commanding 5–1 victory over Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay. The breakthrough came in the 17th minute when Sebastian Berhalter capitalized on a quick free-kick routine with Sergiño Dest, smashing a brilliant first-time strike into the top-right corner. Alex Freeman added two goals, Diego Luna made it 4–1 before halftime, and despite conceding once in stoppage time, the Americans remained firmly in control. Uruguay’s Rodrigo Bentancur was sent off in the 64th minute, and substitute Tanner Tessmann sealed the win shortly after, completing a dominant performance against a traditionally tough opponent.

🇺🇸USA 5-1 Uruguay🇺🇾
🇺🇸S. Berhalter 17’⚽️
🇺🇸Alex Freeman 20’⚽️
🇺🇸Alex Freeman 31’⚽️
🇺🇸Diego Luna 42’⚽️
🇺🇾De Arrascaeta 45+1’⚽️
🇺🇸T. Tessmann 68’⚽️

Line-ups
🇺🇸USA 3-6-1
GK　1：Matt Freese
DF　16：Alex Freeman　22：M. Mckenzie(C)　15：Auston Trusty
MF　2：Sergiño Dest　23：A. Morris　17：S. Berhalter　3：John Tolkin　
MF/FW　14：Timmy Tillman　10：Diego Luna
FW 19：Haji Wright

60’ Haji Wright→Folarin Balogun
61’ Sergiño Dest→T. Tessmann
61’ Diego Luna→Giovanni Reyna
75’ John Tolkin→Max Arfsten
75’ Timmy Tillman→Brenden Aaronson
89’ A. Morris→Cristian Roldan

🇺🇾Uruguay 4-2-3-1
GK　1：C. Fiermarin
DF　8：N. Nández　4：Ronald Araujo　16：M. Olivera　17：Matías Viña
MF　6：R. Bentancur(C)　5：M. Ugarte
MF　14：R. Zalaza　10：De Arrascaeta　20：M. Araujo
FW 9：F. Viñas

45’ Matías Viña→Joaquín Piquerez
45’ F. Viñas→Rodrigo Aguirre
45’ R. Zalaza→Brian Rodríguez
67’ De Arrascaeta→Emiliano Martínez
72’ M. Araujo→Facundo Torres

“Social Media Reactions”

• When the US finally wins the World Cup, we’re just gonna rename the whole thing the Super Bowl.
• Nah, make it the Superb Bowl — do it for the memes.
• By the time you guys win a World Cup, we’ll have robot wives and actual flying cars.
• Gonna be a wild year when that happens.

• Lalas and Wynalda are probably in tears right now, worshipping at the altar of Berhalter.
• It’s painfully obvious the US is basically tucking Bielsa into bed at this point — though yeah, some of that is on Bielsa himself.
• The Berhalters send their regards.

• Bielsa’s gotta go. The players clearly aren’t behind him anymore and his squad selection has been terrible.
• Every Bielsa team eventually hits this wall. He’s a legendary coach, sure, but he never sustains results. He’s got one plan and that’s it — if it fails, the whole team collapses. Same exact thing happened at Leeds.
• It’s not even that opponents “figure him out.” It’s the intensity that burns his squads out. He’s played the same way forever, everyone knows what’s coming, yet he still gets great early performances before the crash.
• Copa America was the same story all over again.
• He refuses to rest guys in meaningless games and keeps them on for way too long. Then when the important matches come around, everyone is already gassed.

• Uruguay now officially holds the record for most goals conceded to the U.S. by any CONMEBOL nation (5).
• Bolivia says “thanks for taking the heat, La Celeste.”
• Total domination — straight up belt-to-ass whooping.
• Folks, it’s official. It’s called soccer.
• Bend the knee, Charrúas. The Hamburger Lords have spoken.
• Honestly didn’t expect much this window with this roster, and definitely didn’t expect that kind of performance from today’s starters.
• 4W 1D in the last five games. Yeah, they’re friendlies, but that’s a massive turnaround from the Confederations Cup and those Turkey/Switzerland friendlies.
  And outside of Australia, those were all pretty solid teams too.

• Y’all got any more countries ending in “-guay”?
• Yeah, we got Paraguay… and Boliguay if you wanna count that.
• Funny thing — we literally just beat Paraguay right before this.

• Bielsa is such a strange manager. He’s literally the definition of “sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit.”
• He’s insanely rigid about everything, and it ends up biting him in the ass all the time.
• Didn’t he refuse to play Crespo and Batistuta together? It’s been like 25 years, but yeah… that’s peak Bielsa stubbornness.
• Don’t fucking remind me. Justice for Crespo.

• A bunch of MLS dudes just went out there and absolutely dog-walked Uruguay — and it wasn’t a fluke.
  Been watching the league since 2010 and I’m genuinely proud of how far it’s come.
• Not to be that guy, but 6 of the 11 starters play in Europe. Let’s not overhype MLS too much.
  I do agree with the rest though.
• True, but outside of Dest and Wright, every one of those guys came through MLS.
• The bigger point is that the U.S. is actually producing legit players now.
• The youth system is still broken if you’re not near an MLS/USL academy.
  I’m paying nearly $1k just for kits and registration for my daughter’s U8 travel team — for eight weekends of games.
  We’re still pricing out any kid who isn’t from a privileged family.
• That’s fucking insane.
  Makes me understand more every day why my parents never put me in travel ball.
• Poor families never stood a chance. I’m a single dad and I barely manage the costs — add hotel fees, tournaments, etc…
  Families with tougher situations or multiple kids? Completely left behind.
• Everyone besides Dest was produced by MLS, to be fair.
• And 4 of the 5 goals today were scored by MLS players, btw.
• Turns out dumping a shit ton of money into academies creates a great domestic talent pool.
  Who would’ve thought, lol.
• What really makes me happy is how hard these young MLS guys fight.
  For a while it felt like we traded the old-school grit for pure talent, but now we’re seeing both.
  Guys like Seb and Freeman have the quality and the work ethic.

Uruguay’s Lament

The Uruguay national team suffered a shocking 5–1 defeat to the United States in an international friendly.
After the match, head coach Marcelo Bielsa stressed the importance of reflection, saying, “When you get a result this poor, it’s crucial for the entire team to identify and share the lessons that come from it.”

Uruguay suffered a heavy 5–1 defeat to the United States in their latest friendly, prompting frustration and criticism across social media.
After the match, Marcelo Bielsa admitted the result was “embarrassing,” but stressed he has no intention of stepping down before the 2026 World Cup. “A 5–1 loss is impossible to ignore. It’s important to analyze it individually and then share the lessons that come from a result like this,” he said.

Under Bielsa, Uruguay had shown promising progress with young talents such as Ronald Araújo, Federico Valverde, and Darwin Núñez, earning wins over Brazil and Argentina in World Cup qualifying and finishing third at Copa América 2024. Rumors of tension with Luis Suárez resurfaced recently, but Bielsa dismissed them, saying he maintains close communication with his players and will not be swayed by fabricated speculation.

From a Japanese perspective, Japan also lost to the U.S. last September, suggesting the American side may simply be exceptionally strong. Still, with limited time left before the World Cup, such a heavy defeat inevitably intensifies the criticism surrounding Uruguay.