CHICAGO — There is no doubt that the hard-fought 3-2 win over Senegal on Sunday gave the U.S. Men’s National Team a boost, especially coming after the disappointing losses to Belgium and Portugal in the March FIFA window.
Christian Pulisic broke out of his scoring slump, Sergiño Dest and Folarin Balogun both netted, and Ricardo Pepi had his best performance in years. Mauricio Pochettino liked what he saw, despite the wholesale halftime changes.
“It was the right attitude, the right commitment from everyone,” Pochettino said. “That is the attitude we are trying to find.”
They will need every bit of that urgency and determination to get a positive result against Germany in Chicago on Saturday. Die Mannschaft cruised to a comfortable 4-0 win over Finland in their World Cup send-off match in Mainz on Sunday.
They outshot their opponents 13-0, with a brace from Deniz Undav, who set up Florian Wirtz for the 2-0 lead, and Jamal Musiala closing out the scoring. The defense had little to do, which shouldn’t be the case at Soldier Field.
If Antonee Robinson and Dest get opportunities to bomb forward, as they had in Charlotte, Joshua Kimmich and David Raum will need to be on top of their game. However, Lennart Karl and Wirtz will be looking for similar breakaways, which might keep the U.S. backs at bay. Either way, the backline will need to be in sync and play compact to avoid the kinds of mistakes that led to Sadio Mané’s brace.
“In my opinion, we conceded through our own mistakes,” Pochettino admitted. “If we improve in the way we manage some situations, I think we will avoid that.”
The inclusion of Chris Richards would help, but making the lineup is unlikely given the uncertainty of his ankle injury. It will be up to Tim Ream, Mark McKenzie, and Alex Freeman to keep German scoring opportunities to a minimum. Neither Joe Scally, Auston Trusty, nor Miles Robinson did enough in the second half against the Lions of Teranga to break up that first-half threesome.
Although Matt Turner put in a solid performance, including a trademark clutch save, he only solidified his No. 2 spot behind Matt Freese, who will be ready to start despite only having 14 caps. Getting a solid performance will be crucial for the New York City FC netminder, just a week ahead of the team’s World Cup opener against Paraguay.
Other Sunday starters who didn’t impress Pochettino enough to keep their spots were Gio Reyna and Sebastian Berhalter, who got a longer look than the others but couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity. He’ll lose the spot beside Tyler Adams to Weston McKennie, with Malik Tillman playing next to Pulisic. And as good as Pepi was, Balogun should get that starting striker spot.
The two other players who didn’t see action against Senegal, Brenden Aaronson and Haji Wright, will likely come on as substitutes against Germany to get a few minutes of game time before the tournament gets underway.
With his World Cup lineup pretty much set, Julian Nagelsmann made few substitutions against Norway. He gave Nathaniel Brown a good look, but the Frankfurt defender didn’t have enough to do to steal David Raum’s starting role. The same goes for Oliver Baumann, who will cede his spot to 40-year-old Manuel Neuer, who was rested before departing for the U.S. And despite his Man of the Match performance, Undav was only on the pitch because Kai Havertz needed to be rested. The Champions League Final game-winner should keep the lone striker spot throughout the tournament.
“Kai’s an extremely important player for us,” Nagelsmann said. “Whoever watched the Champions League saw not only his goal, but also the offensive set pieces, as well as the defensive ones – he is up for almost every header.
“He is always working, and then there are his deep runs with his high pace. It seems like all of our best offensive moments involve Kai, and I am looking forward to what he can do against the USA from the start.”
The former Red Bull Leipzig and Bayern Munich coach knows that the speedy Americans will be a challenge for his backline.
“We need to defend deep so that we don’t get caught in no-man’s-land,” Nagelsmann explained. “Either press very high or drop all the way back.”
Dropping back is not in Lennart Karl’s vocabulary. A lot is expected from the 18-year-old Wunderkind during the tournament, and he has the full confidence of his coach.
“He will be very valuable for us,” Nagelsmann admitted. “He always tries different things and takes risks, which usually pays off.”
“I never crap my pants,” Karl explained. “I like to gamble. I am not afraid of anything. I always press the gas pedal to the floor, come what may.”
Sounds very much like that young kid from Hershey, Pennsylvania, who grew up to lead his team at a home World Cup. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top and carries their team’s momentum into the tournament.
Here are the predicted lineups for the USMNT and Germany:
