On Sunday night, Real Salt Lake forward Corey Baird made his debut for the U.S. Men’s National Team, helping the Stars and Stripes to a 3-0 win over Panama in a friendly at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Baird contributed the game-winning assist on USMNT’s first goal, assisting to Djordje Milhailovic’s strike in the 40th minute. It was something Baird has aspired to achieve after working towards the chance to represent his country since he was a young boy.
“It was a dream come true,” Baird said after the match. “For so long you dream about your opportunity and when it comes true it is pretty surreal. Getting the win was great and with the assist it was the icing on the cake for me.”
Starting on the right wing, Baird made a constant impact on the match, playing provider to Dorde Mihailovic’s goal in the 40th minute of play. The play began with USMNT midfielder Cristian Roldan finding the feet of striker Gyasi Zardes who played Baird off of his left shoulder in space. Baird played a first-time ball across the face of the penalty area that found the run of Dorde Milhailovic who’s first-time shot easily found the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
RSL Head Coach Mike Petke found Baird’s performance positive and echoed that the reigning MLS Rookie of the Year can only get better as his career continues to develop.
“He’s a kid who deserved the opportunity,” Petke said of Baird. “I think he showed a lot of his qualities that he showed with RSL last year to get him the goals and assists and ultimately the Rookie of the Year. His relentless work rate and what I think was a wonderful assist on the game’s first goal was great. We’re just looking forward to getting him back from camp.”
Petke continued by saying: “I had a lengthy conversation with Gregg Berhalter before camp started and we kept drawing similarities about what we both like about Corey and the way he plays. It was great to see him perform in the match against Panama. Opportunities are given and they need to be taken. Now that he’s been playing at such a high level it is time for him to improve and come back to our club and help us.”
During the first camp under Berhalter, the team began to learn a new system of play that the team will move forward with. Baird relished the opportunity and thought the system benefitted his style of play on the wing.
“We had a few scrimmages leading up to the game and I think all of the guys in camp really bought in,” Baird said. “It all came together and really showed the kind of work that we’ve put in the past few weeks.”
In all, seven players made their USMNT debuts with Baird playing a part in USMNT history, being one of five first-timers to start the match. The last time five first-timers started the match was in 1992 in a game against Canada. Baird was joined by Jeremy Ebobisse (Portland Timbers), Djordje Mihailovic (Chicago Fire), Nick Lima (San Jose Earthquakes), Daniel Lovitz (Montreal Impact), Jonathan Lewis (NYCFC) and Christian Ramirez (LAFC) all of whom debuted for the senior squad in Sunday’s win.
