Leeds United World Cup struggles continue as star shunned but knockout place confirmed
It's bee hard going for three of the four Leeds United players at the World Cup so far.
Leeds United’s World Cup struggles continued overnight with Brenden Aaronson an unused substitute in the USA’s 2-0 win over Australia.
Aaronson watched his side thump Paraguay 4-1 in their opening Group D game last week, despite head coach Mauricio Pochettino switching up his entire front line in the second-half. Star man Christian Pulisic was injured for the Australia meeting but it was PSV Eindhoven’s Ricardo Pepi who replaced him.
The USA got off to a fast start, with Folarin Balogun’s 11th-minute cross turned into his own net by Australia defender Cameron Burgess. They continued to dominate the first-half, with Elland Road loan flop Weston McKennie impressive again when running beyond his strikers.
Tyler Adams was another former Leeds man involved at Lumen Field in Seattle and also impressed in his usual defensive-midfield role. His teammate Alex Freeman then made it 2-0 just before half-time, heading into an empty net after a deflected Sergino Dest shot.
The goal was initially ruled offside but eventually given after a VAR review. Australia had offered little by half-time and it was a similar story after the break, with the USA happy to see out their 2-0 scoreline which secured top spot in Group D with a game to spare.
Brenden Aaronson ignored despite USA substitutions
Throughout the course of the second-half, Pochettino again took off all of his main attackers but there was no opportunity for Aaronson. Preferred to the Leeds man were Borussia Monchengladbach’s Giovanni Reyna, Coventry City’s Haji Wright and Sebastian Berhalter of the Vancouver Whitecaps.
It’s another blow for Aaronson’s hopes at featuring in the World Cup but some encouragement could come with the fact the USA have now secured top spot in Group D. They face Türkiye in their final game on Friday June 26 in which Pochettino might decide to rotate ahead of the knockout stages.
The second round of group stage fixtures are now well underway and still only one Leeds player has featured. Gabriel Gudmundsson got just over an hour in a 5-1 win over Tunisia last week but neither Noah Okafor nor Ao Tanaka have played, with the former watching two matches from the bench so far.
Sweden and Japan are both in action tonight, against the Netherlands and Tunisia respectively, with Gudmundsson expected to start again. It remains to be seen if Ao Tanaka will feature but with the Asian side expecting to have more possession, his chances should improve compared to last week’s draw with the Dutch.