Richards, Hall, Albert, Berhalter score as US beats Chile 4-2 in friendly as tempers flare late
Teenager Mathis Albert became the youngest U.S. national team member to score, Chris Richards and Julian Hall had second-half goals and the Americans beat Chile 4-2 in an international friendly on Tuesday night
ST. LOUIS -- Teenager Mathis Albert became the youngest U.S. national team member to score, Chris Richards and Julian Hall had second-half goals and the Americans beat Chile 4-2 in an international friendly on Tuesday night.
Sebastian Berhalter added a goal and an assist for the USMNT, which improved to 4-5-3 all-time against Chile and 5-0-0 in matches at Energizer Park in St. Louis.
“I am so happy. I think overall it was a good performance,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. ”The resilience and everything was fantastic. I think always we were enjoying it even if we had a tough moment during the game, but I think this type of game was priceless for the team and for the players."
Maximilliano Gutierrez and Diego Ulloa scored for Chile, which lost to Canada in a friendly on Saturday in Toronto.
Both teams’ benches cleared in the 94th minute when American goalkeeper Brian Schwake took exception to Leandro Hernández taking a small swipe at the ball after he had grabbed it inside his box. Richards and Hernández each received yellow cards in the fracas, but no further discipline was assessed on the field.
“As a center back you have to protect your goalies and everybody on this roster,” Richards said. “It's very important to, again, show the new guys this is a family and that if you mess with family, this is what happens.”
Albert scored his first goal in international play in the 93rd minute to become the youngest player in USMNT history to score at 17 years and 131 days, after Richards scored on a header off Berhalter’s corner kick to put the Americans ahead 3-2 in the 72nd minute.
“It feels amazing," Albert said. “I'm happy to score, being the youngest ever. I didn't even know until I went in the locker room, but it's really good.”
Hall pounded a header past Chilean goalkeeper Lawence Vigouroux on a cross from Gio Reyna to tie the match at 2 in the 51st minute.
The 18-year-old became the youngest USMNT player to score goals in consecutive matches after he scored on Saturday in his debut versus Peru in Orlando.
Gutiérrez put Chile ahead 2-1 in the 49th minute when he dribbled up the left wing and beat Schwake, who made his senior team debut when he replaced starting goalkeeper Chris Brady at the start of the second half.
Ulloa scored for Chile in first half stoppage time when he buried a loose ball from inside the 6-yard box, tying the match at 1.
Berhalter put the United States on the board when he scored on a cross from Sergiño Dest in the 37th minute.
“He's a player that the energy and the commitment and everything that he does is for the advantage of the national team,” Pochettino said of Berhalter. “He’s a very good role model player for the player that arrives for the first time or the players that maybe are watching from home in the way that we expect the players to behave, the commitment. Of course, that is one part of him and what we expect."
Pochettino gave his youth a chance to shine with Brady, Hall, Adri Mehmeti, Neil Pierre, Brooklyn Raines and Frankie Westfield making their first career starts with the senior national team.
Cavan Sullivan, who celebrated his 17th birthday Monday, entered the match as a substitute, replacing Berhalter in the 83rd minute.
Longtime USMNT defender Tim Ream confirmed before the match that he has retired from international play. The St. Louis native made 86 appearances with the national team since debuting in 2010 and served as the team’s captain during the 2026 World Cup.
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