Next up for the USA: Oct. 17 against Ghana, the opponent in many a dramatic World Cup clash.
Between now and then, Berhalter will surely draw a circle around the penalty arc and instruct his team not to let opponents travel so freely in and around that circle.
Thanks for following along with us today. I’ll be back next weekend on an event to be named later. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday.
Peter Oh writes: “In my opinion Julian Nagelsmann has made an instant stylistic impact on the Germany national team with those complex and pretty patterns. No, not the passing and movement on the pitch. I’m talking about his shirt.”
Rick McGahey sums up the second half well: “Second half all Germany. Using width of field and winning balls in center when USA comes forward, USA can’t generate any offense, starting to avoid midfield but then poor crossing and penetration on wings. Trouble playing out of back, gifting ball to Germany far too often.”
Kurt Perleberg asks: “What should the USMNT do to get better in the future?” I have the answer and will sell it to the highest bidder.
FULL TIME: USA 1-3 Germany
Some shining moments for the US attack, but also some hard lessons learned for the US midfield and defense, which gave up too many chances straight down the middle of the field and paid dearly for it.
From the German perspective, Musiala, Füllkrug and Gündoğan have surely inspired a bit of confidence heading into a year in which they’ll be hosting the Euros.
90 +2 mins: Aaronson certainly earned that free kick, and he’ll take himself. Several US players surround the German wall as if planning something, but Aaronson just drills it straight into said wall.
90 +1 mins: Aaronson takes on five German players while his teammates watch in awe. He’s finally fouled just outside the penalty area.
90 mins: Dest tries to feed the ball to the energetic Aaronson, but Rüdiger responds well.
We’ll play two more minutes. Seems low, given all the substitutions.
89 mins: Müller draws a foul at midfield but the German attack breaks down when, for once, the flag goes up. Offside.
88 mins: Carter-Vickers effectively breaks up a German attack. Might he stake a claim to start in the next game that truly matters?
87 mins: More half-decent play from the reshaped US attacking unit, though Scally’s cross is a bit too high.
85 mins: Müller hustles to keep a ball in play as it bounds forward, with the US once again somehow keeping an uneven line so German players can attack without drifting offside.
82 mins: Müller seems to be relishing a chance to add to his glittering international stats, working well on the right and playing to Havertz.
80 mins: German subs – Thomas Müller gets his 124th cap, replacing Füllkrug. The other second-half scorer, Musiala, also departs. His sub, Chris Führich (Stuttgart), gets his first cap. Another way of putting it – the two German subs had 123 combined caps coming into this game.
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79 mins: The US attackers look alive! Especially Pepi, who manages to swipe the ball within the German penalty area. Not many people can claim such an accomplishment. He and Musah both have half-chances, but the German defense hold firm, barely.
78 mins: A clever sequence of passes springs Aaronson down the right, and … should that be a penalty? Probably not. Still, that’s the best bit of play we’ve seen from the US in this half.
74 mins: Ream shows his skills with some nifty footwork under pressure 12 yards from his own goal. But Germany continue to press, and the US can’t break out of it. A shot goes high in the end.
That’ll be all for Pulisic and McKennie. Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg) gets his second cap. Johnny Cardoso (Internacional/Brazil) gets his eighth.
72 mins: The US break forward, but Germany play it back to ter Stegen, and the US front-runners back off.
70 mins: CHANCE, and it’s 3-1 still only because Sané squandered the chance after being set up beautifully at the top of the box.
That’s all for Sané. Brandt (Dortmund) replaces him, and Goretzka (Bayern Munich) replaces Gross.
68 mins: Oops! A wayward pass forward from Germany, with an attacker realizing he was offside and abandoning his chase, drifts toward the side. Turner goes over to see it out, but it stubbornly sticks around. He ends up making an awkward run back to his net. No harm done in the end.
OK, let’s name all the subs for posterity …
For Germany, Havertz (Arsenal) replaces Wirtz, and Süle (Dortmund) comes in for Hummels.
For the USA, it’s a three-man change: Pepi (PSV Eindhoven), Aaronson (Union Berlin) and Carter-Vickers (Celtic) are in, while Balogun, Richards and Weah are out.
GOAL! USA 1-3 Germany (Musiala 61)
If that goal was any uglier, someone would write a fairy tale about it. Musiala has all day at the top of the box, attempts a pass and gets a fortunate deflection. Füllkrug shoots, and the ball deflects back to the onrushing Musiala for the tap-in. No more than he deserves, and this is a woeful performance from those tasked with defending in the center of the field.
61 mins: More German possession in the US half. And more. And more …
59 mins: CHANCE, as Musah finds space in the box off a corner and heads it just over the bar.
GOAL! USA 1-2 Germany (Füllkrug 58)
Well, he couldn’t miss THAT one. The ball is played into Füllkrug, who’s more alone than I was on Saturday nights in high school and college. Was he offside? Nope. Dest was hanging back on his side of the field, keeping him on.
56 mins: Musah picks up a yellow card on a midfield foul.
54 mins: Pulisic earns a corner kick from his work on the left flank against Tah. He’ll take it himself. He plays it short, it’s played right back to him, the ball bounces around in the box, and … it’s a German counterattack on which they probably should’ve done better.
53 mins: An entertaining battle between Sané and Dest! Sané puts in a cross that Turner punches straight out to … Gündoğan. Scary for the US, but the shot goes harmlessly awry.
52 mins: Dest works his way down the left, as he so often does, and his cross goes over everyone. The US may be relieved just to have the ball at the other end for a bit.
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49 mins: Gündoğan again? The German scorer brings the ball through the center while US defenders scramble to mark everyone who’s left open. They can’t account for Füllkrug, but Ream recovers to ensure the angle isn’t the best, and Turner saves well at the near post.
48 mins: Tons of space for Rüdiger. My goodness, all sorts of space. And too much, apparently, as the flag has gone up, sparing a few questions for the US defense.
46 mins: CHANCE, and Turner does well to give up no rebound as Gündoğan bids for a brace from the top of the box after a contest for possession closer to goal.
Peep! And we’re back underway.
Halftime subs
As expected, Reyna played only 45 minutes as he continues his comeback from injury. Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo) is in.
And … that’s all? That’s a bit of a surprise to me.
Halftime thoughts …
- Rick McGahey takes issue with my thought that Dest could’ve stayed on his feet despite the Hummels challenge: “Hummers slides in front of Dest, little attempt to play the ball, makes sure he trips Dest. Hummels knows how to commit a classic professional foul and made sure he brought Dest down.”
- Autumn Childs notes that the more recent FIFA rankings have even more of a gap between the USA and Germany: “As of 21 September 2023, FIFA’s ranked the US team at 11 and Germany at 15. There’s a pull down menu to see different dates — you were looking at 6 April 2023.”
Rankings are strange, aren’t they?
- The answer to the question “Who will be the ball-winning midfielder in Tyler Adams’ absence?” was clearly “No one.” The US cornerstone is dealing with a recurring hamstring issue.
- Can we say once again that Chelsea supporters will regret treating Christian Pulisic so poorly? The best player on the field in the first half was either the AC Milan newcomer or Germany’s Jamal Musiala, and the goal was superb.
HALFTIME: USA 1-1 Germany
So it’s a stalemate between the starting XIs, which would have to be considered a decent result for the home side.
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45 +1 mins: McKennie with a couple of big blocks after Musiala declines the invitation to fall down with Reyna tugging on his shirt. The German bench inquires as to the lack of a yellow card, and it’s a reasonable question.
43 mins: Yellow card to Hummels, though Dest may have been a bit dramatic there. Pulisic springs Dest into space, the US left back races forward and plays the ball ahead in anticipation of Hummels’ slide, and he takes the slight contact and falls rather than continuing his run. Yes, it’s a foul, but would anyone else rather see Dest looking forward rather than to the ground?
The free kick comes to nothing.
GOAL!! USA 1-1 Germany (Gündoğan 39)
Not a highlight for the US defense. Sané dribbles unimpeded to the top of the area and passes to Gündoğan, then is once again left unmarked as he tears through the box to take a return pass. Matt Turner comes out well to disrupt Sané’s shot, but Gündoğan follows with a simple tap-in. It’s no more than Germany deserve, frankly – or, viewed less generously, no better than the US defense deserve.
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36 mins: The ever-dangerous Musiala tries a through ball to Sané, but Dest reads it well.
35 mins: How has Balogun not scored? Weah again makes a superb run, and while Weah’s cross is behind the US forward, he had time to take a step back and get the ball. Instead, he reaches back with a foot and can’t control it. A better cross would’ve helped, of course, but it’s a chance they’d both like back.
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32 mins: A long-delayed advantage call gives the US a free kick as Reyna is clearly fouled but makes a noble effort to stay on his feet as he crosses midfield. Full credit for the effort, and the referee correctly gives the free kick when the US can’t maintain possession.
We did finally get a replay, and no, it wasn’t a penalty. You could even argue Pulisic deserved a caution for simulation.
At the other end, Füllkrug really should’ve done better with his shot on Turner. The Dortmund man drilled it straight at the US keeper’s feet from an angle that wasn’t that acute.
GOAL! USA 1-0 Germany (Pulisic 27)
Oh, no big deal. Just a routine moment of running at the German defense, making a simple cut inside to the edge of the penalty arc, then blasting a shot so perfectly placed that ter Stegen could only watch it sail past him into the upper corner.
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26 mins: PENALTY! Surely! What? No? Seriously?
Where’s VAR when you need it?
Pulisic is all alone in front of ter Stegen, he plays wide past him, and it certainly looked as though the Barcelona keeper tripped him.
We’ll have to wait to see a replay because there’s a chance at the other end that’s well saved by Turner standing his ground, and then …
22 mins: Again some danger from Germany at the top of the US box, and Turner comes up with the save.
Just a few seconds later, Dest fires on target from outside the box and off to the left, forcing a save from ter Stegen.
The USA earn another corner …
17 mins: Leroy Sané cuts through the US defense diagonally toward the goal, then sends a shot nowhere near anything of interest like a net or a goal post. He’ll have to be disappointed in that.
16 mins: The German defenders cope poorly with a ball that’s lofted in the area, and McKennie plays it back to Weah, whose shot deflects straight to ter Stegen.
14 mins: Weah makes a stellar, blazing run down the right, simply scorching past the German players who had pushed up for the corner kick. Pulisic streaks down the middle, Weah’s pass finds him, and the ball is played out for a corner at the other end. This has turned into a classic attack-vs.-counterattack game, maybe more by accident than by design, but it may be the USA’s best chance.
13 mins: Corner kick to Germany, and it just feels like a goal is coming.
11 mins: OFF THE WOODWORK. Pascal Gross is left all alone at the top of the penalty area, the ball is laid off for him, and the US is lucky that his shot only hit the post. Then even luckier that the rebound off the scrambling Turner doesn’t cross the goal line.
If you had 11 minutes in the “first mention of the US missing Tyler Adams” pool, congratulations.
10 mins: Balogun charges through the center, dinks the ball out right for Weah, and Weah’s cross is knocked out for a corner kick. Germany win the aerial battle on the first set piece of the day.
9 mins: CHANCE … and it’s Reyna bringing the ball down the right and cutting in a dangerous cross before ter Stegen is able to snare the ball. The US might not be playing specifically for the counterattack, but it’s looking like a potent tool to have in the back pocket.
7 mins: Musiala dances into the side of the US penalty area. He can’t get a good cross out of it, but it’s surely a confidence-builder for Germany.
A few seconds later, Musiala carries the ball confidently through the center of the defense. This is uncomfortable for the US, to say the least.
6 mins: Probably a bit more possession than the US defense would like to concede within 30 yards of their own goal, but Germany can’t create any sort of danger out of it.
4 mins: Christian Pulisic puts the ball in the net, but the whistle had blown several seconds earlier because Pulisic was offside, just barely inside the German half. The crowd did seem to enjoy Pulisic “scoring” on the “breakaway,” though.
3 mins: Nervous moment for Matt Turner, as the US keeper appears to lose a bit of footing before clearing under pressure.
Julian Nagelmann looks like he’s dressed for either a Pearl Jam concert or a yoga class.
1 min: The US defenders and midfielders string together about 10 passes in their own half but lose possession upon crossing midfield. Germany return the favor.
Peep! Yay, we’re finally playing.
Our referee is Fernando Guerrero of Mexico.
The anthems have almost finished.
I have a can of diet soda at the ready.
They’re going to commercial …
We start with a moment of silence, given all the recent horrific news. A couple of voices could be heard, but generally, it’s well observed.
Weather forecast …
The weather for the mid-Atlantic coast of the USA today is “meh.” Mid-50s Fahrenheit (low 10s Celsius) with annoying rain. That’s exactly what they tell me to expect when I visit Ireland or England, and yet it’s always glorious weather when I’m there. Strange.
Meet the new boss … not the same as the old boss
No, that’s not a reference to US coach Gregg Berhalter, who was out of contract for a while and then returned, to the consternation and concern of many in the US media and fan base.
The new boss for Germany is Julian Nagelsmann, who is all of 36 years old. I have clothes that are older than that. He is, though, already a veteran of coaching in the Bundesliga, to great success with Hoffenheim. He was fired at Bayern Munich for the cardinal sin of temporarily falling into second place.
Germany lineup
Goal: Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona)
Defense: Robin Gosens (Union Berlin), Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen)
Midfield: İlkay Gündoğan (Barcelona), Pascal Gross (Brighton), Leroy Sané (Bayern Munich), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Forward: Niclas Füllkrug (Borussia Dortmund)
The US lineup seems almost as Bundesliga-heavy as the German lineup, doesn’t it?
USA lineup
Gio Reyna, subject of a nasty family feud between the Reynas and coach Gregg Berhalter, is in the starting XI.
Goal: Matt Turner (Nottingham Forest)
Defense: Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Tim Ream (Fulham), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven)
Midfield: Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Yunus Musah (AC Milan), Weston McKennie (Juventus)
Forward: Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Folarin Balogun (Monaco), Timothy Weah (Juventus)
US Soccer says this is the youngest lineup the men’s team has ever put forth against Germany.
Can Germany pull the upset?
Wait … upset?
If you believe FIFA’s rankings, the USA (No. 13) should be the favorites over Germany (No. 14). But the more mathematical Elo ratings have Germany at No. 13 and the USA at No. 24, which sounds about right.
It’ll be a good look at the US team against good competition in any case. As with any friendly, individual performances will be just as important to watch as the final score, and thanks to Fifa’s insistence on robust Nations League competitions, this sort of game is all too rare for coaches looking for a good test of the player pool.
Beau will be here shortly.
