Portland Timbers midfielder Darlington Nagbe helped the U.S. Men's National Team to a 1-1 draw against Venezuela in an international friendly Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.
Nagbe, who started and played 70 minutes in the match, was a consistent threat in attack, purposefully pushing the ball forward.
Venezuela went on the board first in the match when José Manuel Velázquez scored in the 29th minute. But the U.S. came back with Christian Pulisic finding an equalizer in the 61st minute. Thought not credited with an assist, Nagbe's play in the midfield helped set up the attack that led to the goal.
The match served as a tune up for upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers later this week when the Americans host Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park (5pm PT, FS1) before taking on Mexico on Sunday in Estadio Azteca (5:30pm, FS1).
On Saturday, Nagbe was also named to the preliminary 40-man USMNT roster for the 2017 Gold Cup.
Also in international action on Saturday night and also, coincidentally, against Venezuela, Timbers forward Jeremy Ebobisse and the U.S. U-20s played in the quarterfinals of the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in South Korea. Though the U.S. provided a hard-fought and courageous effort, they lost to Venezuela 2-1 after extra time to be knocked out of the tournament.
After going down 2-0 in extra time, Ebobisse, who was subbed on in the 51st minute, scored the lone goal for the U.S. in the 117th minute. It was Ebobisse's second goal in as many games at the U-20 World Cup and was the first goal Venezuela conceded at the tournament, ending a scoreless streak of 567 minutes.
