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Kyle Bonagura, ESPN Staff Writer
The United States wrapped up coach Gregg Berhalter’s first window back as head coach with a dominant 4-0 win against Oman at Allianz Field in Minnesota on Tuesday.
Folarin Balogun got the U.S. off to a flying start with a 13th minute goal, before Brenden Aaronson (who replaced Christian Pulisic at half-time), Ricardo Pepi and an Oman own goal rounded out the scoring in the second half.
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It was clear early on that Oman, ranked No. 73 in the FIFA world rankings, would be completely overmatched by the U.S., which came in at No. 11 in the last version released in July.
Manager rating (scale of 1-10)
Gregg Berhalter, 7 — There’s not much to be overly critical of here. The U.S. won comfortably and mixed in some new faces. It was a good night for the team. From a pure results standpoint, a pair of wins by a combined 7-0 score made this a successful first window back for Berhalter, but considering the level of competition this was, more or less, expected. A much more interesting test will come next month against Germany and Ghana.
USMNT Player ratings (0-10; 10 = best; 5 = average)
GK Ethan Horvath, 6 — Was required to make just one save.
DF Kristoffer Lund, 4 — After making his U.S. debut on Saturday, Lund got his first start and, at times, his lack of familiarity with his teammates showed. He didn’t have to do much defending with the U.S. dominant in possession.
DF Miles Robinson, 7 — It was a quiet night for Robinson, who was largely untested.
DF Chris Richards, 7 — As was the case with Robinson, there was not much defending to do in this game.
DF Sergiño Dest, 7 — A ripped shot led to the first goal and he was consistently involved in the attack until getting subbed off late.
MF Weston McKennie 8 — A fully engaged McKennie is a difference-maker for the U.S. and that’s the version that showed up Tuesday night. A missed chance late was just about all that went wrong.
MF Malik Tillman, 5 — Without Tyler Adams and Gio Reyna involved this window, it opened up an opportunity for him to start in central midfield, but he didn’t threaten in the attacking third like might have been expected against a team of Oman’s caliber.
MF Yunus Musah, 7 — Sat much deeper than he usually does for the U.S. and looked comfortable in the role.
FW Christian Pulisic, 6 — It wasn’t a memorable game — or window — for Pulisic, who didn’t come close to impacting the game like he’s able to. Came off for Aaronson at the half, by design.
FW Folarin Balogun 7 — Right place, right time for Balogun in the 13th minute, when he calmly hammered home a rebound off a strike from Dest to make it 1-0. Was also a planned half-time sub.
FW Tim Weah, 7 — Pushed the game forward and was generally good in possession.
Substitutes (players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)
FW Ricardo Pepi, 7 — Another goal off the bench for Pepi, who seems destined to make it an interesting competition with Balogun for the starting striker role.
MF Brenden Aaronson, 6 — Good things can happen when you put the ball on frame. Aaronson’s free-kick goal should have been easily stopped by the Oman wall, but it parted just after the ball was delivered and snuck by the goalkeeper.
DF Mark McKenzie — Not much was required of him after coming on the 71st minute,
MF Benjamin Cremaschi — From playing with Lionel Messi in Miami to making his U.S. national team debut. What a year for the 18-year-old. He nearly got an assist after coming on in the 71st minute.
DF DeJuan Jones — Jones assisted on Pepi’s goal shortly after coming on.
FW Kevin Paredes — Straight after coming on in his debut, his cross came off an Oman player for an own goal.