SAN JOSE, Calif. — The surprise on Chris Richards’ face said it all.
Told following the U.S. men’s national team’s resounding 5-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday that three-year veteran Malik Tillman had scored his first two goals for the USMNT, Richards couldn’t believe it.
“I had no idea,” said the U.S. center back. “Malik, to be fair, he doesn’t speak that much, so I wouldn’t have known that. But that’s crazy.”
Chris Richards helps Malik Tillman celebrate one of his two goals on Sunday at PayPal Park. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
Tillman earned the first of his 20 international caps in 2022. One of the final cuts from the USMNT’s 2022 World Cup roster, the German-born Bayern Munich product is coming off a career season with PSV Eindhoven, which he helped win the last two Dutch titles and advance to the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League in consecutive seasons.
Despite missing a chunk of the 2024-25 campaign because of injury, he still managed to score 16 goals in 34 appearances for PSV last term. Still, he’d never found the net at international level until Sunday.
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With most of the Americans’ top stars — Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Antonee “Jedi” Robinson and Tim Weah among them — missing for various reasons this summer, this Gold Cup and the two tuneups before it represent an opportunity for others to make their mark.
Tillman, who manned an attacking midfield role for coach Mauricio Pochettino against the Soca Warriors, has made the most of his opportunity so far. He was the best U.S. player in last weekend’s 2-1 loss to Türkiye. On Sunday, he was even better — with the goals to show for it. The 23-year-old opened the scoring for the hosts 16 minutes in, then doubled his team’s lead before halftime.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,” Tillman, his voice barely above a whisper as always, said after earning Man of the Match honors. “A lot of people have been waiting as well.”
Given his pedigree, Tillman’s quality has never been in doubt. But until Sunday, he had struggled to duplicate his form for PSV with the national team — in part because his path to logging regular minutes was blocked. Now, with fellow attackers like Pulisic, Weah and Gio Reyna absent, he has his first real chance to occupy a significant role at the international level.
The payoff has been a long time coming, both for Tillman and the USMNT
“I understand him better now,” said Pochettino, who replaced former coach Gregg Berhalter last September. “October, November, when we met for the first time, I think it was difficult to create this relationship that the player needs, and the coach needs, to trust each other,” Pochettino said. “That is about time. Now, after a few weeks together, I really start to understand him, and he starts to understand us.
“He’s a fantastic kid,” the former Chelsea, Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain manager continued. “He’s a talented player, one of the most talented players I think that we have in the USA.”
Tillman wasn’t the only player to stand out against T&T. Diego Luna assisted on Tillman’s second goal, then set up the Americans’ third when his low shot hit striker Patrick Agyemang and then the back of the net. Luca de la Torre, who made the U.S. roster for the last World Cup but didn’t play in Qatar, bossed the midfield alongside newcomer Sebastian Berhalter. With two late helpers, fullback Max Arfsten rebounded from a poor performance in last week’s 4-0 loss to Switzerland. Haji Wright, another 2022 vet, scored the Americans’ fifth on Sunday in clinical fashion.
The victory simultaneously snapped a four-match losing skid and set the U.S. up well for its final two group games, against guest team Saudi Arabia and Haiti. (The Saudis beat the Haitians 1-0 in Sunday’s nightcap).
“That is only one victory,” Pochettino said. “Now we need to see the next one.”
Mauricio Pochettino talks USMNT approach in Concacaf Gold Cup | FOX Soccer
With the 2026 World Cup on home soil now less than a year away, the opportunity isn’t lost on his players.
“It’s the last tournament that we have before the World Cup,” Tillman said. “So it’s very important for us to show ourselves, to show that we are still there, that we’re still a good team, even though some players are not here.”
Nobody boosted their stock on Sunday as much as Tillman, who is finally beginning to show U.S. fans and players alike his personality, both on and off the field.
“From the outside, he’s very quiet. But then once you get to know him he’s a teddy bear,” said Richards of Tillman, who he’s known since both were playing in Bayern’s reserve squad six years ago.
“When I first met him he didn’t speak any English, and now he’s playing for the national team,” Richards added. “It’s really amazing to not just see him develop as a player, but as a person. And he fully deserved two goals today.
“He’s a baller.”
United States vs. Trinidad and Tobago Highlights | Concacaf Gold Cup
Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.
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