What Leeds ace Brenden Aaronson did on international duty that left USA’s national media very impressed

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Brenden Aaronson was the final Leeds United player in action for his country during the early hours of this morning.

Aaronson was handed his second start in as many matches for the USMNT as their poor run of form continued with a 1-1 draw against New Zealand in Cincinnati.

After playing 77 minutes in the USA’s 2-1 defeat to Jesse Marsch’s Canada at the weekend, Aaronson played another 66 minutes last night.

Aaronson was fairly anonymous in the game against his old Red Bull Salzburg and Leeds coach, but was far more effective in the encounter with New Zealand.

Despite the poor results, Aaronson will be delighted he is still a key part of the national team after dropping into the Championship with Leeds this season.

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US media deliver verdict on Leeds’ Aaronson display

Despite it only being a friendly, Aaronson and his US teammates were involved in a pretty fiery affair that saw a combined total of 31 fouls committed by both teams.

Aaronson was on the end of a couple of those, as well as 12 ground duels, as he looked to put himself about as much as possible.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Christian Pulisic was the man on the scoresheet for the home side, but it was an 89th minute equaliser from Plymouth Argyle’s Ben Waine which prevented USA from winning.

GOAL delivered their verdict on each and every USMNT player in a post-match ratings piece, and were actually very impressed with the way Aaronson handled himself against physical opposition.

They wrote: “Brenden Aaronson – 7. Got beat up a bunch by New Zealand, particularly in the first half. Put himself in positions where defenders simply had to foul him, which is a credit to how good he was with and without the ball. Had one good chance at goal, too, but it was saved by Max Crocombe.”

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Aaronson’s USA involvement puts him in doubt for Leeds vs Burnley

Unfortunately for Aaronson, he does not have much time at all to fly back to Leeds and recover in time for the return to Championship action.

Leeds are set to host Burnley in one of the early kick-offs on Saturday and it would not be a surprise if Daniel Farke opted to drop him to the bench simply because of when he will arrive back.

It also does not help that he played a significant amount of minutes, while someone like Largie Ramazani has had a full week of training to prepare.

In fact, EFL pundit Sam Parkin has tipped Farke to throw Ramazani into the starting XI due to how many of Leeds’ other attacking players have been away.