CHICAGO — The U.S. men’s national team wanted to face only tough opponents leading into the World Cup.
As a result, it has lost three of four games going into one of the biggest matches in the program’s history Friday night against Paraguay.
That’s not the be-all and end-all, and Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Germany in front of a sellout crowd at Soldier Field looked a lot different — in a good way — than the USMNT’s pair of losses to Belgium and Portugal back in March.
Against a side that looked ready to sweep them away early, the Americans showed resilience, had positive stretches of play and were left thinking they could have gotten more.
That’s all great, but the 3 ½-year timer on being able to brush aside losses expired sometime between the final whistle and the USMNT boarding its plane to Orange County, Calif., on Saturday night.
Now, the only thing that matters is the result, and much as the Americans can take some pride in being able to compete with one of the tournament’s best teams, its back line — still minus Chris Richards, missing with an ankle injury — looked woefully overmatched here, and continues to be a serious worry.
It wasn’t just on Leroy Sané’s eventual game-winner, where both Miles Robinson and Tim Ream were caught out defending a German throw-in, allowing Sané to slip into space from Kai Havertz’s pass and slot in a finish.
It was also the first German goal, where Robinson was beaten to Joshua Kimmich’s free kick by Havertz easily, mere minutes into the game.
Beyond the goals, there were just too many times where Ream and Robinson looked without an idea on the ball, or where Germany felt comfortable exploiting either channel, which were left vulnerable with Alex Freeman, Sergiño Dest and Antonee Robinson all given space to go forward.
Offensively, the USMNT looked legitimately threatening, and Christian Pulisic was unlucky not to put his team ahead 2-1 with a pair of shots from short range that were stopped by German goalkeeper Oliver Baumann before Malik Tillman’s follow was skied over the bar. Dest was his usual threatening self, and looks primed for a good World Cup, while Jedi Robinson’s volleyed wondergoal was nothing short of terrific.
Once Pochettino had pulled all his starters 73 minutes in, the reserves kept pushing to tie it, and could have, with Brenden Aaronson forcing an excellent save out of Baumann in the 87th minute.
Right now, though, the Americans look like they are straddling the line between being a fun team to watch and a team that can truly make a run on home soil.
Aside from Richards’ absence which prompted the USMNT to play Miles Robinson in the middle of its back three, Mauricio Pochettino’s lineup appeared Saturday to be one he could roll out again for Friday’s World Cup opener against Paraguay.
That included Matt Freese starting in goal and playing 90 minutes, a sign the NYCFC keeper hasn’t lost his grip on the No. 1 job.
There were moments, plenty of them, where Germany’s talent shone through and it looked to be toying with the USMNT.
The Americans looked surprised by the intensity of Germany’s press, and for the game’s first 15 minutes in particular, struggled to match it.
It was only due to the offside flag going up that Germany didn’t add a second just a few minutes after its first, and the game looked in danger of getting out of hand early.
That didn’t last though.
First, the U.S. was helped greatly by what looked like an active decision by Pulisic to follow the ball, even if it meant pulling himself out of position.
Second, the Germans eventually had to pick and choose their spots to press and third, the U.S. eventually looked more comfortable — if not fully settled — when they did.
Then there was Robinson’s goal: a left-footed belter from the top of the box that rattled the back of the net.
If he can reproduce that in the World Cup, it would be one of the goals of the tournament.
“Free Bird,” USA Hockey’s goal song during its gold-medal run at the Olympics, blared at Soldier Field. Red smoke went up from the stands.
It felt like the sort of moment that could get excitement for the World Cup kicking into high gear.
It ended up being the highest point of the afternoon.
Next time, for real.
