Tuesday was a remarkable day for U.S. Soccer abroad as six different Americans started for their respective club team in the UEFA Champions League.
Americans That Started In The Champions League Tuesday
- Christian Pulisic (ST/False 9 for Chelsea)
- Tim Weah (RM for Lille)
- Brenden Aaronson (CAM for Red Bull Salzburg)
- Weston McKennie (RM for Juventus)
- John Brooks (CB for Wolfsburg)
- Jordan Pefok (ST for Young Boys)
Sergiño Dest was brought on as a late substitute for Barcelona as he is still recovering from injury and spent most of his night on the bench.
6️⃣ @USMNT players started in UEFA Champions League today, the most on a single day ever pic.twitter.com/0XeklPAGPU
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 23, 2021
With all this attacking talent of course it was the guy who hasn’t been making the USMNT roster who scored the only goal by an American in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Jordan Pefok scored an early equalizer for Young Boys against Atalanta in what turned out to be a 6-goal thriller.
JORDAN PEFOK WITH A LOVELY HEADER pic.twitter.com/JyY1jyCrtR
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) November 23, 2021
Pefok hasn’t featured for the USMNT since Sept. 5 when Gregg Berhlater’s side tied Canada 1-1. Ricardo Pepi has firmly taken the reins of the striker position; however, I wouldn’t mind seeing Pefok added back to the roster to supply some competition for the starting striker role.
Pulisic started for Chelsea as a false 9, but he had a relatively quiet game as his teammates ran riot against McKennie’s Juventus. McKennie helped set up a goal. Too bad it wasn’t for his team. Other than this mistake he played a great game.
TIMO WERNER STAYED ONSIDE pic.twitter.com/NGFTh35GDL
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) November 23, 2021
McKennie and Pefok were the only two Americans to play the entire 90 minutes of their respective games as Aaronson, Brooks, Weah and Pulisic were all taken out in the second half.
