Entering this month’s camp, with two games to go before the World Cup, the U.S. men’s national team was seeking to fine-tune things in its preparation for the 2022 World Cup. And after the first of those two games, it appears plenty more fine-tuning is going to be required.
Japan scored early and remained on the front foot in Germany, where Gregg Berhalter’s side fell to another Qatar-bound team, 2–0, Friday at Düsseldorf Arena. Daichi Kamada and Kaoru Mitoma accounted for the goals, while the U.S. failed to put a shot on target over 90 disjointed minutes.
It was already known that the U.S. was not going to be at full-strength, with a number of key players—Tim Weah, Yunus Musah, Antonee Robinson, Chris Richards and Zack Steffen among them—not available for this match and this camp in general. One of the top stars actually in camp, Christian Pulisic, was a scratch for the game, though, having picked up a knock in training earlier in the week. He is considered day-to-day by U.S. Soccer and could feature on Tuesday against Saudi Arabia in Spain, the last match the U.S. will have before opening group play in Qatar on Nov. 21.
