Alex Zendejas and Folarin Balogun scored to give the United States a 2-0 victory over Japan while Mexico battled South Korea to a 2-2 draw in international football friendlies on Tuesday.
Zendejas scored in the 30th minute and Monaco striker Balogun added an insurance goal in the 64th minute as the Americans improved to 7-6 with one drawn this year with the triumph before 20,192 at Columbus, Ohio.
“Just waiting for my moment,” said Zendejas, a winger for Mexico’s Club America. “It’s crazy to take all this in. I didn’t expect to get called up. Just trying to take advantage of every opportunity.”
In another football friendly on US soil, AC Milan striker Santiago Gimenez netted the equalizer in the fourth minute of stoppage time to lift Mexico into a draw with South Korea at Nashville, Tennessee.
All four teams in action are set for next year’s World Cup, Japan and South Korea through Asian qualifying and the USA and Mexico as co-hosts with Canada of the global showdown.
South Korea beat the Americans 2-0 on Saturday, the same day Japan and Mexico played to a goal-less draw.
Japan swapped out all 11 starters from the Mexico draw while US coach Mauricio Pochettino changed five starters from the South Korea defeat.
“I’m satisfied because I think the players deserve this result,” Pochettino said. “When you’re strong in your ideas, it’s about moving forward. At the end of the match, I thanked the players and encouraged them to continue improving their teams.”
Japan goalkeeper Keisuke Osako made nine saves in a losing cause while Matt Freese had six for the shutout.