Seattle Sounders forward Jordan Morris picked up his second career start and his ninth international cap with the U.S. national team on Friday night, logging 87 minutes before he was subbed out of the USMNT’s 1-0 win over Canada.
Morris started up top with Jozy Altidore in the USMNT’s second international friendly in a week at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. The match put an end to the team’s annual January camp, and Morris joined the Sounders’ preseason camp in Arizona on Saturday as the team’s first competitive game of 2016 looms less than three weeks away.
Morris was one of a handful of promising youngsters who got the start for U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann on Friday night, and nearly picked up his second career assist in the 21st minute of the match.
He threaded a perfectly weighted through ball to winger Gyasi Zardes behind the Canadian defense, but goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau safely parried the shot away.
Morris also came close to scoring his second career goal with the USMNT in the 38th minute, but his flicked shot over the head of Crepeau after a give-and-go with Altidore sailed wide of the far post. He also connected with former Stanford teammate and US debutant left back Brandon Vincent for a scoring opportunity in the 71st minute, but Vincent’s low shot from the left side was saved by Crepeau.
The game marked Morris’ first start with the USMNT since April 15, 2015, and his first start with the team since signing as a Homegrown Player for the Sounders last month. Morris logged 15 minutes off the bench in the team’s 3-2 win over Iceland last Sunday.
Morris was replaced by Ethan Finlay with three minutes left in the match, giving Morris his longest shift to date with the USMNT.
Altidore scored the lone goal of an otherwise sleepy night offensively for both teams, heading home a cross from Finlay in the 89th minute.
Morris’ next international action will likely come next month with the U.S. Under-23 team, which will take on Colombia in a home-and-home series with a berth in the Summer Olympics on the line. The U.S. will travel to Barranquilla for the first leg on March 25 before hosting the second leg four days later at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Tex.
