USMNT draw New Zealand in final Hex tune-up

A Julian Green first half strike was cancelled by a late finish as the U.S. Men’s National Team drew New Zealand 1-1 Tuesday night at RFK Stadium, in the final tune-up for the Americans before they open the final round of World Cup Qualifying vs. Mexico.

After a experimental American lineup was initially sluggish in the attack, Julian Green put the U.S. ahead in the 27th minute, as the Bayern Munich forward slowly but surely probed outside the left corner of the box before blasting a low finish past a flat-footed Stefan Marinovic to put the Yanks ahead.

It’s the third goal in six caps for the 21-year old.

A few minutes later, Jozy Altidore ran onto a clever Sasha Kljestan flick and located DeAndre Yedlin who slalomed around a defender for a one on one vs. the keeper but was unable to beat Marinovic, who did well to open his body and make the save.

It was a lively affair, with the Americans creating chances led by the mercurial Sacha Kljestan while New Zealand looked good on the counter-attack.

However, New Zealand were the better team in the second half, and in the 72nd minute Monty Patterson was the quickest to a loose ball deep in the box, slotting a low shot in-between the legs of second half keeper David Bingham to equalize for the All-Blacks.

Both the U.S. and New Zealand had huge chances to steal the match late, but the friendly ended in a draw.