4-1: Peru falls with controversy against the United States
The selection of Peru lost this Saturday 4-1 against USA in Orlando, despite Gianluca Lapadula’s goal, and he did it with controversy in a match without VAR that was unbalanced in the resumption due to a penalty called on Jesús Pretell for a dubious contact that, in addition, occurred outside the area.
Peru celebrated Lapadula’s goal on its international return after 18 months of waiting, but ended up defeated in the first of the four games it will play on North American soil. He succumbed to the goals of debutant Justin Ellis, Malik Tillmann, 18-year-old Julian Hall, who wore his mother’s surname (Zakrzewski) on his jersey, and Sebastian Berhalter.
The Argentine Mauricio Pochettino, United States coach, took advantage of this friendly to give up to eleven players their debuts. It was played in Orlando with more than 28 degrees Celsius of temperature and high humidity that complicated the work of both teams. For Peru it was the beginning of a high intensity tour that includes stops in New Jersey, Montreal and Miami before returning to South America.
Peru will face Mexico on September 29 in Harrison (New Jersey) before traveling to Montreal to play with Canada and flying to Miami to challenge Colombia at the NU Stadium, the home of Leo Messi’s Inter Miami.
TECHNICAL SHEET
4 – United States: Matt Freese, Alex Freeman, Auston Trusty, George Campbell, Peyton Miller; Tyler Adams, Yunus Musah, Cavan Sullivan, Malik Tillman, Gio Reyna and Justin Ellis. Kochen, Antonee Robinson, Berhalter, Gozo, Hall, Albert, Westfield, Raines, Mehmeti and Pierre also played.
1 – Peru: Pedro Gallese, Oliver Sonne, Miguel Araujo, Renzo Garcés, Marcos López; Wilder Cartagena, Yoshimar Yotún, Jairo Vélez, Piero Magallanes, Jhonny Vidales and Gianluca Lapadula. Soyer, Pretell, Valera, Mora, Concha, Vilca, Inga and Huamán also played.
Goals: 1-0, m.4: Ellis. 1-1, m.15: Lapadula. 2-1, m.66: Tillman, penalty. 3-1, m.71: Hall. 4-1, m.90: Berhalter.
Referee: Steffon Dewar (Jamaica). He showed yellow cardboard to Sullivan and Reyna, from the United States, and to Cartagena, López, Yotún, Garcés, from Peru.
Incidents: Friendly match played at the Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando before nearly 21,000 spectators.
Menezes came out with the expected eleven and with Lapadula up front. A bet that rewarded him, because the Peruvian Italian scored after a quarter of an hour to tie an initial goal scored by Justin Ellis, just 19 years old, at 4 minutes. Yotún was the most active of Peru and gave Lapadula the assist for the valuable 1-1.
Peru paid the physical strain and had a hard time maintaining the pace after the restart, but it was a controversial decision that unbalanced the match. In the 66th minute, young Mathis Albert fell on the edge of the penalty area after slight contact with Jesús Pretell. Even though the play seemed outside the area, the referee awarded a penalty.
Without VAR, despite protests, Malik Tillmann took the penalty, crossed the shot and scored 2-1. For the Peruvian team it was a psychological blow and, five minutes later, Hall scored the goal to make it 3-1. In added time, Berhalter scored a great goal from outside the area that sealed the match for Mauricio Pochettino’s men.
