Fifa World Cup 2022: U.S. lineup. Jesús Ferreira makes World Cup debut

United States men's national team coach Gregg Berhalter made a surprising change to his starting lineup

starting lineup for Saturday’s World Cup round of 16 clash with the Netherlands, bringing in forward Jesús Ferreira for his first action of the tournament.

Meanwhile, as expected, Christian Pulisic was listed among the starters, having made a recovery from the pelvic contusion injury

Berhalter made the switch to Ferreira — the third pure striker on the roster — against a Netherlands defense

The selection was a surprise. Ferreira, who plays for FC Dallas in MLS, kicked his heels on the bench throughout the group stage.

The 5-foot-8 Ferreira is a curious choice over towering Haji Wright to go up against mammoth Dutch center back Virgil van Dijk, one of the best defenders in the world

But Ferreira isn’t a typical central striker; adept at dropping back into the midfield and combining with teammates as attacking moves build up

Ferreira scored 18 goals for FCD last season, tied for the most among American players in MLS

but he hasn’t played since Dallas was eliminated from the MLS Cup playoffs on Oct. 24.

Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal named an unchanged lineup from his team’s final group game, a 2-0 victory over host nation Qatar.

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