The young American team came away with a scoreless draw against the 13th-ranked team in the world as it continues to tinker with its roster and tactics ahead of the World Cup.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — For the United States men’s national soccer team, a string of four games this month against a diverse set of opponents presents any number of productive opportunities.
There are moments to workshop collective tactics, moments to evaluate individual players, moments to strengthen the interpersonal bonds that make up the group’s general character.
And then there are moments like Sunday, when the team could face an elite opponent, pull out a measuring stick and plainly take stock of its own quality in the middle of its monthslong preparations for this year’s World Cup.
Providing the test was Uruguay, the 13th-ranked team in the world, and the Americans were reasonably satisfied with the result: a hard fought, 0-0 draw in an exhibition played before a crowd of 19,569 fans in Kansas City, Kan.
Gregg Berhalter, the U.S. coach, said he had told his players to embrace the challenge and enjoy the game.
“It’s not often you get to play against guys of that quality,” Berhalter said after the match, sounding upbeat about the outcome and praising his players for an “A-plus effort.”
The testing and inquisition and self-reflection will continue in the months to come, though before the game, there did emerge at least one bit of certainty: Wales will be the United States’ first opponent at the World Cup in Qatar after beating Ukraine, 1-0, in a scintillating play-in game earlier in the day in Cardiff, Wales.
The inclusion of Wales completed Group B, which along with the United States includes England and Iran.
“Now we finally know our opponents, and we can finally set our sights on that group, and how we get out of it,” said Walker Zimmerman, who along with his teammates tried to follow the play-in match as they sat in meetings and ate lunch before their game.
Also before the start of the game, the team announced it would be sending a letter to Congress calling for stronger gun laws in the wake of a spate of high-profile mass shootings in the country this spring. The players on Sunday also wore orange arm bands in support of Wear Orange, a movement to raise awareness about gun violence in America.
“People can say it’s not the guns, it’s the people, but we have to start somewhere,” forward Christian Pulisic said about the letter.
By Sunday evening, the players’ attention was fully on Uruguay. In Kansas City, Diego Alonso, the Uruguay coach, rotated his lineup somewhat from the team’s previous game against Mexico. Big names like Federico Valverde and Edinson Cavani (who misfired on an open net in the waning moments of the game), for instance, played only the final 30 minutes or so. But La Celeste, as the team is known, still presented a stern, star-studded task for the U.S.
In its traditional sky blue shirt, Uruguay controlled play early, dissecting the American defense with purposeful passing, resulting in a number of nervy, narrow misses. But the U.S. gradually gained a foothold after withstanding that early pressure, threatening Uruguay with a sequence of chances, with right winger Tim Weah in particular providing repeated spurts of danger and creativity in the first half.
“A lot of us are young, and we’re still getting that experience against these high-level teams,” Weah said before the game. “So I feel like playing a team like Uruguay that has a lot of stars is amazing.”
Berhalter afterward singled out a number of players for praise, including the reserve defender Joe Scally, who he said persisted gamely despite a couple of early mistakes; goalkeeper Sean Johnson, who made a crucial second-half save to preserve the draw; and midfielder Tyler Adams, who Berhalter said “had an extra gear, and extra spark, and was all over the place.”
The 15th-ranked United States began its training camp this month with a game against Morocco, ranked 24th. And the team’s next two games this month represent a bit of a drop-off in overall quality: Grenada (170th) on Friday in Austin, Texas, and El Salvador (74th) on the road on June 14.
So the match on Sunday and the Americans’ solid performance — that they emerged from a sparring session with a top team mostly unscathed — will represent an optimistic development for a young team trying to mold itself into a contender.
“The idea is to play quality teams,” Berhalter said, “and the reason why is because you want to go into the World Cup with confidence you can beat anyone on any given day.”
Source: Soccer - nytimes.com
