It was a dream night for Yunus Musah as he opened his United States account with a goal against Panama in front of new boss Mauricio Pochettino Saturday evening.
The Milan man has been in the picture for the Stars and Stripes some time now, becoming just the second player in USMNTÂ history to play over 3000 minutes before turning 22 years old, joining U.S. Soccer legend Landon Donovan by accomplishing that feat.
Despite the high number of minutes, it took until being moved out to the right-wing against Panama for Musah to bag his first international goal, a moment he says he will cherish.
“I am so happy,” he said. “I’ve been dreaming about it for so long. “I’ve come close a lot of times and finally to score it, I am so grateful.”
Musah was delighted to find himself in a new role under Pochettino, and was quick to praise his new manager for the decision to shake things up.
“Pochettino? He knows a lot about my background, he knows about my academy days at Valencia and Arsenal. That’s why I played wide, I used to play in that position.
“It’s nice to have a coach that knows a lot about me, and that has a lot of faith in me. I’m just really grateful.”
Musah will more than likely get another chance to get his name on the scoresheet Tuesday evening as the United States take on rivals Mexico in a friendly showdown, if it can ever be called that when the two CONCACAF giants meet.
After Marlon Fossey, Weston McKennie, Ricardo Pepi, Christian Pulisic and Zack Steffen returned their clubs Sunday morning, Musah could be one of the key contributors for Pochettion against El Tri.