Mauricio Pochettino wants players who give their all to the U.S. men’s national team, and it was safe to say that Justin Ellis did just that in the USMNT’s 1-0 win over Canada on Tuesday night.
Ellis, 19, looked as though he had sustained an injury during the first half of the match after going down following a challenge with Canada’s Stephen Eustáquio in the 20th minute of the match at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minn.
Moments after re-entering the game, he scored the United States’ only goal of the match and his second of the international window.
“We need to assess him,” Pochettino said on the TNT broadcast at halftime. “He received a big knock in his leg, but I hope it’s not a big issue.”
Ellis did exit the game after halftime, though he was still named Man of the Match.
The 20th-minute collision between Eustáquio and Ellis sent the USMNT striker to the ground for several minutes while the medical staff looked at him on the pitch.
He eventually came off the pitch under his own power, but was visibly limping and was further examined on the sideline by the trainers.
Ellis checked back in the 23rd minute, but continued to limp significantly while on the pitch.
However, that didn’t stop him from scoring roughly six minutes after coming back into the match.
After Alex Freeman got the ball back on the right side of the pitch, he charged up the field and set up Ellis for the finisher in front of the net to score the American’s only goal in the 29th minute.
Ellis was among a number of players on the USMNT roster this camp who earned their first senior national team call-ups during the September/October window.
He scored his first USMNT goal in their win over Peru on Sept. 26 in Orlando.
