Folarin Balogun and Christian Pulisic Power USMNT to Much-Needed Win Over Japan | What Did We Learn This Window?

from The Cooligans · host Alexis Guerreros, Christian Polanco

Christian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros react to the USMNT’s 2-0 friendly win over Japan. The boys break down the entire performance, including Folarin Balogun’s strong showing at striker. Has Balogun cemented his place as the starting striker for next summer? They also recap Christian Pulisic’s return to the USMNT and explain why he’s such a crucial piece for the team.Then, they grade the September international window, which included both a win and a loss. They also highlight their “stock up” player following this game. Can Alex Zendejas make a case to compete with Tim Weah for the right-wing spot?Finally, Christian and Alexis reveal where their USMNT confidence meter stands after another mixed international window under Mauricio Pochettino. (0:00) – Match recap(8:00) – Grading the September window(19:00) – Breaking down Christian Pulisic’s performance(30:00) – Stock up: Alex Zendejas(35:00) – USMNT confidence meter Subscribe to The Cooligans on your favorite podcast app:🎧 Apple Podcasts🎧 Spotify🖥️ YouTube📢 Check out the Yahoo Sports podcast network or yahoosports.tv

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Sep 10, 2025

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What this episode covers

Christian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros react to the USMNT’s 2-0 friendly win over Japan. They break down the performance, including Folarin Balogun’s impact at striker, and evaluate the September international window. Plus, they highlight standout players and discuss their current level of confidence in the USMNT under Mauricio Pochettino.