The United States soccer team, affected by several casualties, and that of Paraguay, reinforced by the return of forward Julio Enciso, will face each other this Saturday in a friendly in preparation for the 2026 World Cup which will be held at the Subaru Park stadium in the city of Chester, Pennsylvania.
The match will also be a duel between Argentine coaches Mauricio Pochettino, from the American team, and Gustavo Alfaro, from Albirroja.
The North American team, which will be one of the hosts of the World Cup event along with Mexico and Canada, Due to recent injuries, he will not be able to count on midfielders Tyler Adams, from the English Bournemouth, and Sean Zawadzki, from the Columbus Crew, from the American MLS league. To cover that position, Pochettino this week called Timmy Tillman, a player from Los Angeles FC, of the MLS.
Also due to injuries they were not cited. midfielder Weston McKennie, left back Antonnee Robinson and forward Cristian Pulisicdiminishing the potential of the “Stars and Stripes” team.
In friendlies played in September, the United States beat Japan 2-0 and lost by the same score to South Korea.
For its part, Albirroja will arrive at the match with the reinforcement of forward Julio Enciso, from Racing de Strasbourgwho has been absent from the squad since undergoing surgery on his left knee last July.
With the presence of Enciso, Alfaro's team practically has the complete cast and will seek its first victory in friendlies, after drawing 2-2 with Japan and losing 0-2 to South Korea in September.
Midfielder Matías Galarza, from the Argentine River Plate, stated, in statements reported by Paraguayan mediathat his country's team is prepared to become champion of the 2026 World Cup.
“We are prepared to become champions and we approach these friendlies like a World Cup.“said Galarza, whose country will return to the competition after its last participation in 2010.
His teammate, Junior Alonso, defender of Atlético Mineiro, considered that the warm-up games are “quite strong tests” that will help the cast “arrive in the best way” to the international competition.
La Albirroja qualified for the 2026 World Cup last September directly by finishing in sixth position in the South American qualifiers. with 28 points, ten less than the leader of the table, Argentina.
Next Tuesday the 18th, Paraguay will play with Mexico and the United States team will face Uruguay.
Probable lineups
United States: Matt Freese; Auston Trusty, Mark McKenzie, Tim Ream, Sergiño Dest; Tanner Tessmann, Cristian Roldán, Brendan Aaronson, Aidan Morris; Folarin Balogun and Gio Reyna. Coach: Mauricio Pochettino.
Paraguay: Roberto Fernández (Orlando Gil); Gustavo Gómez, Omar Alderete, Junior Alonso, Juan Cáceres; Andrés Cubas, Diego Gómez, Matías Galarza, Miguel Almirón; Antonio Sanabria and Julio Enciso. Coach: Gustavo Alfaro
Stadium: Subaru Park (Chester, Pennsylvania)
Time: 17.00 local time (22.00 GMT). EFE
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