Sporting KC: Matt Besler Features For The USMNT
Sporting KC Defender Matt Besler made his 23rd appearance for the United States Men’s National Team on Wednesday in an international friendly against Chile.
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The Overland Park, Kansas native has became a mainstay in the starting eleven for the national team, and also became a household name after being a rock in defense during the 2014 FIFA World Cup run in Brazil.
The USMNT came out in an experimental 3-5-2 formation, with Steve Birnbaum, Jermaine Jones, and Matt Besler as the three central defenders in front of Goalkeeper Nick Rimando.
Matt Besler and the USMNT came out firing, and opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Matt Besler worked his way up to the attacking side of midfield and floated a beautiful ball over the top of the Chilean defense to an oncoming Break Shea who hammered it just inside the near post to beat the keeper and make it 1-0 for the USMNT.
The assist from Besler to Shea marks Besler’s first career assist for the USMNT, and was praised by a lot of fans and experts.
Ball from @MattBesler was perfect because it allowed @BrekShea to hit it 1st time. Shea timed his run perfectly. #USMNT
— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) January 28, 2015
That's a reeeeeally nice ball from Matt Besler. #USMNT
— Andy (@AndyEdMLS) January 28, 2015
Chile answered only four minutes later, with Roberto Gutierrez evening the scoreline at 1-1. USMNT and Toronto FC striker Jozy Altidore gave the USMNT the lead once again in the 31st minute when Deandre Yeddlin found Mix Diskerud who in turn found a waiting Altidore near the top of the box, and Altidore guided it just inside the far post to give the US a 2-1 lead.
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The 3-5-2 formation experiment only lasted a half of soccer, and the US switched to a more traditional 4-4-2. The change seemed to negatively affect the squad because Chile leveled the scoring in the 66th minute at 2-2 when Mark Gonzalez drove into the box and slotted a ball past the keeper into the back of the net.
The US was never able to recover, and gave up another goal only nine minutes later to Mark Gonzalez to give Chile the lead at 3-2. The US never scored a goal after the switch from the 3-5-2 to the 4-4-2 and conceded two in route to a 3-2 defeat. It will be interesting to see how US head coach Jurgen Klinsmann responds to the teams performance.
Matt Besler played a full 90 minutes for the US defense. Sporting KC Goalkeeper Jon Kempin has been training with the USMNT, but was not featured in the game.
The pair of Sporting KC players are expected to remain with the USMNT for their next game on February 8th against Panama.