The U.S. men’s national team aren’t sulking after suffering a slim defeat at the hands of Slovenia on Saturday afternoon. In fact, head coach Gregg Berhalter is proud of the effort they delivered in their first performance of the new year.
Berhalter watched as 11 players made their senior debuts in the USMNT’s 1-0 home defeat at Toyota Field. Despite some sloppy moments in the first half, the Americans improved after halftime, and even came close to tying the match on multiple occasions through Esmir Bajraktarvic and John Tolkin’s offensive chances.
Berhalter would’ve hoped to see his team rewarded for their efforts, but overall wasn’t too disappointed with the final scoreline.
“It wasn’t always perfect, but the will was there, the desire was there, the competitiveness was there, and we kept going to the last whistle trying to get the equalizer,” Berhalter said in a post-match conference call with reporters. “And I really liked that, how they kept their heads up and kept going.
“Overall, when I’m looking at the stats, it’s a performance that I think was good enough to get something out of the game.”
The USMNT out-possessed (68%-32%), out-passed (695-273), and outshot Slovenia (15-9) in the match, doing everything they could to try and get back into the match. Timothy Tillman and Bajraktarevic highlighted the creative performers in the USMNT squad on Saturday while Duncan McGuire and Brian White both tried to use their physical abilities in the final third.
Jack McGlynn, Josh Atencio, Sean Zawadzki, and Diego Luna were also among the debutants to feature in the match while goalkeeper Patrick Schulte made three saves to keep Slovenia from adding to its advantage. Many of the these players will now head into their respective MLS preseasons, but certainly have a confidence boost going into it.
“I think this is a great opportunity to learn and if you think about 11 guys got their debut tonight, five of the guys who started are Olympic-age eligible,” Berhalter said. “So this is going to be a great learning experience for this group, and really happy with the opportunity to do this camp and think we definitely got something out of it looking forward.”
Saturday’s friendly also came two months shy of the conclusion of the CONCACAF Nations League, a tournament that the USMNT will be seeking to win for the third-straight edition. In addition to repeating as Nations League winners, the Americans will also welcome CONMEBOL’s best to the United States this summer for the 2024 Copa America.
With no World Cup Qualifying cycle to look forward to, the USMNT will be preparing to run the table in all competitions as preparation for 2026..
“Looking forward, it’s competition time,” Berhalter said. “We have trophies on the line this summer with Copa America and this spring with Nations League, and we’re looking forward to getting the entire group together and trying to win our third consecutive Nations League and then have a great showing in Copa America.
“So it’s an exciting six months of soccer coming up for the USMNT,” he added.
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