Berhalter admits USMNT has much to improve after friendly win - ESPN

ST. LOUIS — Gregg Berhalter praised the mindset of his U.S. men's national team in the last 10 minutes of the 3-0 win over Uzbekistan, but admitted that there was plenty of room for improvement after his first game back as head coach.

The U.S. jumped on top in the fourth minute thanks to Tim Weah's goal, but then labored for much of the match, as Uzbekistan's five-man backline proved difficult to break down.

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It took a goal in the first minute of second-half stoppage time from substitute Ricardo Pepi to make the game safe, before Christian Pulisic scored from the penalty spot four minutes later to complete the scoring. Both of the late goals came with Uzbekistan reduced to 10 men after Khojiakbar Alidzhanov was forced to leave the match with an injury, and with the visitors out of substitutes.

«I think we use this game as a learning tool,» Berhalter said. «We can improve and we need to improve and we will.»

«I really, really liked the mindset in the last 10 minutes of the game,» he added. «You could see the guys still wanted to push. It wasn't about holding onto the 1-0. It was about getting aggressive. As they moved to a back four, we had more space and I liked that the guys wanted to attack it.

»I think that it's a good baseline for us to start and say this is what international competition from other regions looks like and so that we use as we go."

The U.S. was made to work hard for its victory. Both Alijonov and Eldor Shomurodov had some clear chances to pull Uzbekistan level, but both were undone by the combination of wayward finishing as well as some stellar goalkeeping from Matt Turner.

Berhalter