The United States men's national team steadied their proverbial ship by beating Japan 2-0 in an international friendly held at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio.
This was the sixth time the United States won by that famous 2-0 scoreline while playing in Columbus. This was also the third time New York City FC goalkeeper Matt Freese kept a clean sheet in goal for the United States, a decent number given it was only Freese's ninth career appearance for the USMNT.
While there have been much more significant Dos A Cero wins from the United States in Columbus, the latest one earned here in 2025 washed away at least some of the negativity swirling around the USMNT in the wake of back-to-back losses, first to Mexico in the Gold Cup final, then this weekend at a Sports Illustrated Stadium packed with South Korea fans.
Instead, the stars at Lower.com Field included goalscorers Alex Zendejas and Folarin Balogun, plus Freese and an unblemished American defensive line. With the September window for the USMNT now wrapped up, here are some thoughts on what worked for the United States in their comfortable 2-0 win over Japan in Ohio.
Matt Freese steps back up
This was the eighth straight start in goal for Freese for the United States and it was his best 90-minute performance to date for the national team. The New York City FC keeper made six saves including a vital one early in the ninth minute, with Freese lunging to his right to keep out a dipping shot from distance by Junya Ito of Japan.
Freese had two other hugely important, higher degree of difficulty stops to make in this game, and he made them all, even the other routine saves. He didn't have as many point-blank reaction stops to make as his counterpart, Japan's Keisuke Osako, who made nine saves including some highlight-reel ones late in the second half as the United States poured it on against a white-flag-waving Japanese team.
Freese didn't do anything wrong against South Korea but still didn't look great while conceding that second goal in New Jersey, or while losing 2-0 to another top-30 FIFA-ranked team. His summer breakout in the Gold Cup only buys him so much leeway while playing in goal for the USMNT, but this performance against Japan was a reminder of what Freese is capable of when he's at the top of his game.
The Athletic just today was busy wondering where the good American goalkeepers all went, and maybe they are being just a little bit too dismissive of what Matt Freese can bring as starting goalkeeper for the United States.
Poch's tinkering works, this time
In the wake of the loss to South Korea, Mauricio Pochettino drew criticism for continuing to explore new parts of the player pool and to tinker with his USMNT lineups, specifically around the decision to hand Vancouver Whitecaps FC defender Tristan Blackmon his first-ever national team appearance. Pochettino gave Blackmon and striker Josh Sargent big chances to impress against South Korea and they didn't, but the calls Poch made heading into the Japan match all paid off.
The big change from Pochettino for the Japan game was a tactical one, namely using a 3-4-3 formation while adding Chris Richards as the third center-back to join the same pairing he used against South Korea, Tim Ream and the aforementioned Blackmon again. That change really suited left-wing-back Max Arfsten, who got to play in his more usual role rather than as a traditional left-back in Pochettino's usual 4-2-3-1 tactical setup.
Arfsten's freedom to get forward and ability to cross from an advanced wide area led to the opening goal for the United States, as the Columbus Crew defender got an assist by whipping a cross into the feet of Zendejas, who connected perfectly on the volley. Arfsten was on the same side of the attack as Christian Pulisic in this game and Pulisic also looked much more like his usual dangerous self while lining up on the left of the attack with Zendejas on the right, a switch from the Korea match in New Jersey when Pulisic was on the right and Tim Weah was on the left.
There's naturally going to be changes in personnel when these friendlies come back-to-back from Saturday to Tuesday, but Pochettino's changes all worked out in Columbus and got him a much-needed result to quiet down some of the loudest doubts about his team.
Balogun solidifies his case
One player who there should be fewer doubts about after September camp: Striker Folarin Balogun. The United States benefited from a confident and dangerous performance from the New York City-born striker of AS Monaco in France, with Balogun played in on goal neatly by Christian Pulisic before scoring the USMNT's second goal to confirm the win over Japan.
Balogun entered as a second-half substitute against South Korea after Josh Sargent got the start and was unlucky not to score in that game, denied by Korea's goalkeeper twice on back-to-back chances late in the second half. In Ohio against Japan Balogun wouldn't be denied, but the striker also had other moments where his hold-up play set other teammates up for chances or for dangerous runs towards goal.
The 24-year-old striker was credited with three chances created while attempting four shots and putting three on target. This was one of Balogun's better performances in a United States shirt, and it should set him clearly above Josh Sargent and everyone else on the USMNT's striker depth chart. The attack looked infinitely better with Balogun up top.
A necessary vibe shift
The whole of the USMNT looked infinitely better against Japan, even if this was only one friendly match played against a heavily-rotated version of the Japan team that played Mexico to a 0-0 draw in the #TacosVsSushi Derby.
The bigger-name Japan stars – Kaoru Mitoma of Brighton and Hove Albion FC and Daichi Kamada of Crystal Palace FC both in England, plus Takumi Minamino who is teammates with Balogun at Monaco in France – started this game on the bench.
The state of the Japan squad didn't matter to the USMNT, because it felt somewhat like the USMNT was approaching their nadir after getting outplayed for the majority of the match by South Korea last weekend.
The Korea loss set off a fresh wave of criticism and doubting of Mauricio Pochettino's work in charge and made it hard to feel confident heading into this final match of the September international window against Japan.
Maybe all it took was a return to the national team's historically happiest place, Columbus, Ohio. Or maybe it was just a better tactical setup for the personnel Pochettino had at hand for this September window, or maybe a combination of all those factors.
Whatever it was that spurred the United States on to this victory, it was an absolutely necessary win, even if the result means nothing given it was friendly. The players needed the boost of confidence and the slightly embattled, highly-paid USMNT head coach needed a result to point to that showed what he was working on could actually work on the pitch for 90 minutes.
Mission accomplished to close out September, but the conversation will begin anew when it comes to the upcoming October international window which will include matches against Ecuador and Australia, two more World Cup-qualified opponents that will pose real tests to the work-in-progress USMNT.
