Sullivan scores first USMNT goal, Messi ends Argentina career

Welcome to the rare international break overlap, where men's and women's national teams are in session at the same time, if only for a few days. As women's national teams begin their work before games over the weekend, their counterparts on the men's side are finally wrapping up their oversized international break. The men's window will end with a bang, too – while the U.S. men's national team's youthful revamp continues, Lionel Messi will be Argentina's headliner one last time. I'm Pardeep Cattry with the latest.

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🇺🇸 USMNT survive, then thrive against Mexico

The U.S. men's national team's next generation continues to go from strength to strength, passing the first notable test of their international careers in a 3-0 win against longtime rivals Mexico .

USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino leaned on experience with eight World Cup players in his starting lineup, but the three newcomers each impressed in their own right, coming up with much-needed plays to get through a game that posed more challenges than the scoreline indicated. El Tri imposed from the start, their high-intensity approach out of the gate, forcing the U.S. team to lack any sort of composure in the early moments of the game. Mexico, though, lacked the one thing the U.S. did not: a clinical edge. The opening goal was a microcosm of the game -- Julian Hall had four touches by the 27th minute and the USMNT had just one shot, but the 18-year-old's ability to find the right space at the right time meant his fifth touch handed his team an edge they may not have otherwise earned.

Pochettino's side turned things around after halftime, though Mexico's first shot on target was impressively stopped by goalkeeper Diego Kochen in the second half. As El Tri 's mistakes piled up, though, the USMNT took advantage. Cavan Sullivan notched his first international goal in style in the 62nd minute by chipping goalkeeper Raul Rangel from distance, while Mateo Chavez's two-handed slap on Sebastian Berhalter five minutes later sent El Tri into disarray. Not to be outdone by the youngsters, Malik Tillman scored minutes before the final whistle to confirm a commanding, well-earned victory that showcased the U.S. team's ability to troubleshoot.

- Pochettino: "I think it was a good lesson, the first half, because it was the sense to work all together, suffer together. When you are not playing well or in the way that you plan to play, I think it's so important to show that maturity like a team, like a group of players. The 11 players plus the players that were outside, they were suffering all together. It was that connection."

Pochettino has been careful to create a low-pressure setting for the group of 13 players who were uncapped at the start of the international break, going as far as downplaying the stakes of the U.S.' intense rivalry with Mexico pre-match. Pressure, though, invites itself, and sharing a pitch with an intense Mexico team that had the backing of the crowd of 60,000-plus, it was hard for the U.S. team not to feel it. They admirably solved the problems they faced, though, so far living up to the billing as the USMNT's brightest talents yet. Pochettino has tried not to single out any individuals as part of his plans to "protect" the newcomers, but praise for Sullivan's game was wriggled out of him on Saturday, describing the 17-year-old as a "warrior" and "fighter" as well as complimenting the whole group on understanding the tactical non-negotiables he and his coaching staff have set, all of it on display against Mexico.

Nearly as far away from a World Cup as it gets, a loss on Saturday -- or at any stage of this international break -- was always going to be survivable for the USMNT. The fact that they came out of their clash against Mexico with a hard-fought, well-earned win, though, makes this early stop on the road to the 2030 World Cup a barometer for what's to come. The measuring stick for this version of the USMNT effectively begins with Saturday's game and the results, at least so far, continue to be promising.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/footy-fix-cavan-sullivan-opens-his-usmnt-account-lionel-messis-last-game-for-argentina/)._