The Union’s big influence on the USMNT is a remarkable feat: ‘To be together here is special’

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — There’s plenty to discuss about the U.S. men’s soccer team’s 2-1 loss to Turkey on Saturday: the tactics, the effort from young players, and the defensive lapses that decided the result.

But if you watched the game from Philadelphia or came up from the city for the weekend, you probably couldn’t help noticing something else.

The Union had an extraordinary amount of influence on the U.S. squad, at positions all over the field.

Wayne-born former goalkeeper Matt Freese started, as did former midfielder Jack McGlynn — who scored a highlight-reel goal barely a minute after kickoff.

Former centerback Mark McKenzie was a halftime substitute. Current midfielder Quinn Sullivan and defender Nathan Harriel entered in the 65th, for their senior national team debuts. And striker Brian White, a long-ago academy prospect, joined the fray in the 74th.

“I don’t think any of us would have thought about it like that,” Harriel said. “It’s just a big blessing … It’s a tight-knit group, and we still talk to each other even though we’re at our own clubs. So just to be together here is special.”

It’s rare for any team to contribute six-of-17 players to one side in a national team game, in the U.S., or otherwise. It’s even rarer for that team to have won as few major trophies as the Union have.

But all those players knew the significance of the moment, especially when Sullivan subbed in for McGlynn specifically, and the longtime friends embraced.

» READ MORE: USMNT shows much improvement, but Jack McGlynn’s goal isn’t enough in a 2-1 loss to Turkey

“That’s one of my guys from Philly,” McGlynn said. “I kind of grew up with him, so to see him make his debut with Nate as well was definitely special.”

Sullivan called it “kind of a full circle moment, having played with him for such a long time.”

The 21-year-old Bridesburg native was a lively presence, though he rued an open miss in the 70th minute off a cross from Haji Wright.

“Obviously it’s my first time, so it’s trying to figure everything out, but I’m happy with my performance,” Sullivan said. “I left some plays on the field, but also created a little bit and showed a little bit of the attacking aggressiveness that I wanted to show.”

» READ MORE: Paxten Aaronson aims to make the most of his biggest shot yet with the U.S. team

Freese’s role was the biggest surprise. U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino had grounds to bench usual starter Matt Turner, but the other backup, Chicago’s Chris Brady, had more experience in the U.S. pipeline.

So there he was, and it was hard to blame him for Turkey’s goals. Both came off defensive mistakes made by players in front of him. Things went better in the second half, perhaps not coincidentally after McKenzie and Tyler Adams took the field.

“Mark and I played against each other when we were 12,” said Freese, who also played with McGlynn, Sullivan, Harriel, and Brenden and Paxten Aaronson in Chester. “Now I’m barking orders at him, and he’s barking orders at me playing for the national team. We’ve come a long way together, all of us, and it’s a huge honor to be part of this now.”

No one is going to claim that this U.S. group with many MLS players has the same talent level as a true A-squad would, with Christian Pulisic, Antonee Robinson, Tim Weah, and so on. It was clear, though, that the newcomers brought the fighting spirit that their more famous colleagues didn’t at the Nations League in March.

» READ MORE: Back with the USMNT, Brenden Aaronson is ready to help the team return to winning

It’s surely too cliché even by Philadelphia standards to say that a bunch of Union guys brought the needed grit. Then again, given the team’s renowned pressing, might there be something to it?

“It’s in our DNA to fight, especially in Philadelphia — that’s what was installed at the club," Harriel said. “And the same thing here: Pochettino wants fighters. … To go out there and to fight like the boys did today is something to be proud of for sure.”

And Sullivan brought it home, after writing another chapter in his famed soccer family’s history book.

“This badge, this country, it’s everything to me, and that intensity, I will always bring no matter what,” he said. “It definitely helps coming from Philly, where the intensity is always high. But yeah, you’ll always get that from me, and it seems like from the rest of the team.”

» READ MORE: USMNT’s Mauricio Pochettino gives ‘guarantee that we are going to compete’ at Gold Cup

Because it was a national team game, and because it was against a big-time European opponent, some people who hadn’t watched McGlynn before got to see the magic in his left foot.

Fans in Philadelphia, his current home of Houston, and others who knew him had seen it plenty. But they’d rarely seen the left-footer in the right midfield position he played Saturday.

It suited him well for that goal, when he cut in, put the ball on his left and let rip from 20-some yards. That was one of his three shots on the day, to go with 34-of-42 passing.

“It’s different for me,” he said. “I’m used to playing in the middle, or [as] a left shuttler with the Union, so it’s definitely taking us some getting used to, but I think it’s I found success with it today and in Houston too, so I’m getting used to it.”

Pochettino praised McGlynn’s play, especially how teammates trust him to control the tempo with the ball. But the manager was also realistic about McGlynn’s shortcomings, which are a big part of why the Union weren’t able to sell him to Europe.

» READ MORE: Jack McGlynn has grown his game and himself since his departure from the Union

“He needs improving in other areas of the game, to be a player that can reach this high level,” Pochettino said. “If his evolution is how we are thinking, in our mind, I think with time, he can become a very, very good player. Because the quality is there. He’s a very talented player.”

As for the game as a whole, the boss pronounced himself satisfied.

“The only way to improve is playing, is giving the opportunity to these young players,” he said. “I think we are very pleased. Of course, you cannot be so happy because you lose the game. But I think overall, if you analyze the performance, I think we performed well. I think we were brave enough.”

With another game coming Tuesday against Switzerland in Nashville (8 p.m., TNT, Peacock), Pochettino gave a reminder that “we need to prepare for the next game and to perform in the same way — it’s not to perform today and not perform in the next.”

A few minutes later, he added his most emphatic words of the day.

“If I decide in September [to pick] a different roster,” he said, “what I want is the same level of commitment, attitude. Not to complain in between this and that.”

» READ MORE: A year from the World Cup, Tyler Adams embraces being the USMNT’s leader on and off the field