For the second straight game, the United States men have defeated a top European foe on their own turf. They followed up their win over the Netherlands on Friday with an even better performance in a 2-1 win over Germany.
3 things we learned from the USMNT’s impressive 2-1 win over Germany
The United States are starting to look great against top opponents.
The Germans were well on top early, though, with the Americans looking unable to cope. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan bailed out his team with a good save on Andre Schürrle in the fifth minute, but they were behind soon afterwards. Mario Götze was the scorer in the 12th minute, finishing off a spectacular long run and square ball by Patrick Hermann.
But the USMNT surprisingly pulled level by halftime. Michael Bradley set up the goal with an excellent diagonal switch into the path of Mix Diskerud, who placed a composed half-volley past Ron-Robert Zieler from 8 yards.
Jurgen Klinsmann made three changes at the break, and they paid off instantly. DeAndre Yedlin, Kyle Beckerman and Brad Evans all had a big part in the United States dominating possession for vast swaths of the second half.
However, the Americans couldn’t capitalize on their chances. Sebastian Rudy barely poked the ball off Gyasi Zardes when he looked sure to score early in the half, and Aron Johannsson whiffed on an equally good chance in the 65th minute.
Jordan Morris entered with just over 15 minutes to go, and he made a big impact again, just barely missing on a scorching shot in the 75th minute.
Bradley had the winner on his boot in the 84th, when a square from Yedlin set him up with an open shot from 12 yards, but Zieler made an excellent kick save.
It looked like everyone was content with coasting to a draw until late sub Bobby Wood shocked everyone, scoring the winning goal for the second consecutive game. He picked up a pass from Evans, turned away from his defender and placed a perfect shot into the bottom corner from 20 yards, giving his team yet another astounding result. Germany nearly equalized in the final minute of extra time, but Sami Khedira’s headed shot bounced harmlessly off the crossbar.
Germany: Zieler, Hector, Rudy, Mustafi, Rüdiger, Schweinsteiger (Khedira 46'), Gündogan (Kramer 60'), Hermann (Bellarabi 73'), Özil, Schürrle (Podolski 46'), Götze (Kruse 73')
Goals: Götze (12’)
United States: Guzan, Johnson (Evans 46'), Brooks, Alvarado, Chandler, Williams (Beckerman 46'), Diskerud (Morales 74'), Zardes (Wood 74'), Bradley, Johannsson (Morris 74'), Agudelo (Yedlin 46')
Goals: Diskerud (41’), Wood (89’)
3 things
1. Michael Bradley's finally in form again. The United States goes as Bradley goes, which can be a bit concerning. It's never good to depend on the form of one player. But when Bradley is as good as he was against the Netherlands and in this game, the USMNT can hold their own against anyone. For the second straight game, he was his team's best player.
2. After an awful start, that was a great team performance from the USMNT. Without question, the USMNT started poorly. They were hardly involved in the game in the first 15 minutes. But they slowly started to get more into it, keeping the ball a little bit easier, and it eventually led to the goal. They were even better to start the second half, regularly pinning Germany back for long periods of time.
3. DeAndre Yedlin looked at home in an advanced role. Evans got another look at right back in this game, allowing Yedlin to work higher up the pitch. And as a right winger, he looked much more comfortable than he ever does at right back, and looked capable of beating his man whenever he wanted. The combination of a great ball-retaining fullback behind a speedster was also a big positive for the American right flank.
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