US falls to Italy in stoppage time

Stoppage-time goal for Italy in 1-0 win; Pulisic captains US By The Associated Press Matteo Politano scored his first international goal in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time, and Italy beat the United States 1-0 in an exhibition on Tuesday night at Genk, Belgium, as 20-year-old Christian Pulisic became the youngest captain in the modern history of the American team.

In likely the final game for the Americans under interim coach Dave Sarachan, Ethan Horvath made his first international appearance since January and had several sprawling saves.

Politano, a 25-year-old winger playing his second match for Italy, broke through with seconds remaining when he passed to Marco Verratti and sprinted through the penalty area. The return pass bounced off a defender to Poitano, who beat Horvath from 8 yards.

Pulisic was the only holdover in the U.S. starting lineup from last Thursday’s 3-0 loss at England. At 20 years, 63 days, Pulisic bettered Landon Donovan, who was 22 years, 220 days when he first captained the Americans in a World Cup qualifier at El Salvador on Oct. 9, 2004, a match regular captain Claudio Reyna missed because of a quadriceps injury.

Before last week, Pulisic had played just once for the U.S. since the defeat at Trinidad and Tobago in October 2017 that ended the Americans’ streak of seven straight World Cup appearances. He took time off from the national team to concentrate on his club career with Borussia Dortmund in Germany.

Coach Bruce Arena quit after the loss in Trinidad and was replaced by Sarachan, his top assistant. Sarachan guided the Americans to three wins, five losses and four ties in 12 exhibitions, giving debuts to 23 players in the transition to a younger roster ahead of next year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup and qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. Romain Gall, a 23-yearold midfielder, replaced Pulisic in the 83rd minute and became the latest American to make his debut.

New U.S. general manager Earnie Stewart has said a new coach will be hired later this year. Columbus Crew coach Gregg Berhalter is the favorite.

Pulisic was moved from wide midfield to forward in a 3-5-2 formation. The new coach will face the issue of where to deploy Pulisic, who usually is wide for Dortmund.

The U.S. finished with three wins, five losses and three draws in 2018, its fewest games in a year since going 1-2 in 1987, all that June at the President’s Cup in South Korea.