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GLENDALE, Ariz. — When Cavan Sullivan found out Saturday morning that he would start several hours later against Mexico, the U.S.’s archnemesis and the prime test during this stirring international window, “my stomach sort of dropped,” he said.
The teenager debuted last weekend against Peru, but Mexico was a whole other beast. He shared the news with his parents and one of his brothers, who had all traveled to the Phoenix area for the friendly at State Farm Stadium.
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“I was amazed. I was excited,” he said of the starting assignment. In preparation, “I visualize and try to manifest good things.”
And then he took a nap.
Later, he and a crackling crowd were wide awake, when in the 63rd minute of a one-goal match that soon became a 3-0 wipeout, he became, at 17 years and five days, the youngest goal-scorer in U.S. men’s history.
He overtook Mathis Albert, another 17-year-old and another one of the wide-eyed prospects invited to their first camp by Mauricio Pochettino at the start of the 2030 World Cup cycle.
Sullivan applied high pressure on goalkeeper Raúl Rangel, whose pass attempt rolled right to the American. He was a long way from the target, but with Rangel woefully out of position and an inviting net in view, he didn’t hesitate to shoot.
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“It felt like I wasn’t going to get the ball and I would just have to recover and get back into position,” he said. “Sometimes you get the luck and the benefit of the doubt. I got the ball. From there, I was just like, ‘I’m not going to dribble.’ I was a little too tired. I’m just going to chip it, and I guess the rest is history.”
History, indeed.
His teammates — on the field and on the near-side bench — rushed to join the celebration at the corner flag.
“That wasn’t the way I pictured scoring a goal,” he admitted, “but the celebration was.”
Sullivan’s game of cunning and quickness draws comparisons to Landon Donovan, the retired U.S. star whose career began in his teenage years. Donovan’s first goal? Against Mexico, 26 years ago this month.
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“It just shows the willingness to go and press, to create turnovers, to put pressure, force [Rangel] into making mistakes,” captain Tyler Adams said. “That’s how we want to play the game. He’s relentless in the way he presses. And then obviously when he picks him off [the pass] like that, I’m right behind him. I’m like, ‘Just turn and shoot,’ and he did it perfectly.”
Sullivan’s willingness to press and play defense is an aspect of his game that can be easily overlooked.
“I try to do it on both sides of the ball, no matter what the circumstances are,” Sullivan said. “One thing I always was told by my dad [Michael, a former player] growing up, was try and make offense out of defense. Obviously, I’m an offensive player, but you’re always in the best spots when you win the ball during the press. It’s taken time to get better at my defensive work, and I still have a lot to do and a lot to improve on, but yeah, it was a great moment.”
Pochettino prefers crediting the collective rather than an individual; it’s his ethos as a coach. Even so, he spoke highly of his young pupil.
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“He’s a talented player with enormous quality, but with a very good balance, in possession and out of possession,” Pochettino said. “He’s a fighter. He’s a warrior. It’s difficult to find this type of player with that tremendous quality. … It is unbelievable to have a player like this. It’s fantastic news for [the] USA. Hope that that continues in that way — growing.”
Cavan Sullivan’s relentless pressure paid off against Mexico, forcing the mistake that led to his historic second-half goal.
(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Sullivan was not the only young player to continue making a mark in this camp. Forward Julian Hall, 18, became the first U.S. player in more than 20 years to score in each of his first three matches. Pochettino also received contributions from 20-year-old goalkeeper Diego Kochen, who made his first start, and four young subs. Teenagers have accounted for six of the 11 U.S. goals this window.
“It’s a big moment because we need to be right with them,” Pochettino said. “We need to protect them. We need to support them. Our responsibility now is that this group of talented players grows in the right direction.”
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Sullivan is certainly headed in the right direction.
“It’s the best feeling I’ve ever experienced,” he said of his goal. “A huge win, a huge day for me, for my family. Yeah, what an honor.”
Other USMNT observations
***The final score was not indicative of how the match started, with Mexico dictating play and threatening to score the first goal.
“They force us to play back,” Pochettino said. “We never connect. We were losing all the duels, and then we start to grow after 15, 20 minutes. It was a good lesson, [in] the first half, because there was the sense to work all together, suffer together.”
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Hall’s goal, off a rebound, changed the complexion of the match.
“We start to find our way to play, and I think we were much better,” Pochettino said. “It was difficult in the second half for Mexico. We dominate the second half.”
***The goalkeeping situation appears wide open. With four keepers in camp, Pochettino gave 45 minutes to each in the first two matches. On Saturday, Kochen went the distance.
Matt Freese is the incumbent, but after a dismal performance in the World Cup round-of-16 loss to Belgium, his starting job was no longer guaranteed.
Kochen, Freese and newcomer Brian Schwake were in uniform against Mexico, with Chris Brady, the No. 3 World Cup keeper, inactive.
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Pochettino suggested he might start Schwake against Canada on Tuesday in St. Paul. Schwake, a standout for MLS frontrunner Nashville SC, debuted in the second half against Chile on Tuesday in St. Louis.
“We need to give the opportunity to the keepers to play and to perform — sometimes 45 minutes, sometimes 90 minutes,” Pochettino said. “Very happy [about] the four; they have a very good relationship.”
