Roster shuffle paid dividends for USMNT, Berhalter in pre-World Cup win over Morocco

CINCINNATI — With a little less than six months to go until the World Cup, Wednesday's friendly against Morocco was the perfect time for U.S. men's national team manager Gregg Berhalter to venture a bit into mad-chemist mode both in terms of roles and personnel. There are times when such experiments can blow up in a manager's face. But on this occasion, Berhalter's tweaks largely paid off in a 3-0 win.

As friendlies go, this counted as an impressive victory for the U.S. given that Morocco is also World Cup-bound. This wasn't a case where the Atlas Lions were fielding an understrength side either. While out-of-favor forward Hakim Ziyech was absent, nine of the 11 players on the field at TQL Stadium played in Morocco's final World Cup qualifier, and one of the relative newbies was Azzedine Ounahi, scorer of two goals in the 4-1 second leg win over DR Congo that clinched the ticket to Qatar.

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There had been question about how the U.S. would fare against such an opponent given its CONCACAF-heavy schedule — largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and taking part in official competitions — over the past two-and-a-half years. But even amid some ragged moments in transition and a susceptibility to Morocco switching the point of attack, the U.S. was the better side on the night, and were deserving of their victory.

That said, the win needs to be put in context. It was still a friendly and the result will mean nothing come November. Only soccer obsessives will recall the Americans' 1-1 draw with France prior to the 2018 World Cup that Les Bleus ended up winning. This game is a means to an end in terms of preparation, and nothing more.

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