Why Jesús Ferreira starting for the U.S. vs. Netherlands is a curious choice

DOHA, Qatar — United States men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter made a surprising change to his starting lineup for Saturday’s World Cup round of 16 clash with the Netherlands (10 a.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App), 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 that briefly cast some doubt over his availability.

Berhalter made the switch to Ferreira — the third pure striker on the roster — against a Netherlands defense that has conceded only once in the tournament.

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, he’ll operate almost as an attacking midfielder. 

Wright started against a similar central defender against England — Harry Maguire — and came on against Team Melli in place of the injured Josh Sargent, who did not dress for the match. 

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.

There was still no place for Gio Reyna, as the young Borussia Dortmund forward had to be content with a place on the bench once more.

At the back Walker Zimmerman was reintroduced after being replaced by Cameron Carter-Vickers for the Iran game, with the backline, also featuring 35-year-old Tim Ream, having been one of the American strong suits during the World Cup so far.

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

That was a small surprise, given that so many members of his squad had been suffering “flu symptoms” that he cancelled a Thursday training session.

Read more from the World Cup:

Top stories from FOX Sports:

Listen:

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.

Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. You can subscribe to the daily newsletter here.

Get more from FIFA World Cup 2022 Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more