USMNT depresses in interim coach Anthony Hudson's debut by tolerating Serbia's comeback win

USMNT's 2023 debut did not go as expected and, despite an early lead, they lost 2-1 to Serbia, a match that marked Anthony Hudson's debut as interim coach and where Alejandro Zendejas, who still has a chance to make a decision for Mexico, completed all 90 minutes.

First game after Gregg Berhalter scandal

After its elimination in the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the U.S. National Team returned to action in a friendly game at the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, its first test and without coach Gregg Berhalter, who is under investigation by the U.S. Soccer Federation.

Zendejas, called up by the USMNT, but with options to defend Mexico, started the match from the beginning, as did Brandon Vazquez, another Mexican-American, who was in charge of demonstrating his quality on the field, as with an accurate header he made it 1-0 in the 28th minute after several minutes of U.S. dominance.

Serbia came from behind against the USMNT, who dominated, but were not accurate

Although the Serbian team, also a World Cup participant in Qatar 2022, had a youthful and innovative squad, they reacted and looked for a quick equalizer, but Gabriel Slonina prevented it with a great save. He saved again for the USMNT, but in the 42nd minute it was impossible to stop a shot by Luka Ilic after the wall opened and they went to the break with the equalizer.

The second half had barely begun when Veljko Simic came on and surprised all the U.S. players to make the comeback. Dejan Joveljic added to his tally, but it was disallowed for offside.

The U.S. reacted and looked for an equalizer, but Cade Cowell's shot hit the post. As the minutes passed, the USMNT regained control of the match, but they were unable to find the equalizer despite Anthony Hudson's changes. Zendejas came close to his goal and was very involved, but to no avail.

In the end, the United States pressed without achieving their goal against an opponent that defended with everything in the final moments and came away with an important result that will serve as motivation for them, while the USMNT has to react and improve on Saturday when they face Colombia.