With the World Cup in sight, the USMNT still have doubts over keepers and strikers

A mixed bag of June fixtures wrapped up on Tuesday with a testy 1-1 draw away to El Salvador as USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter continued his World Cup preparations.

The window opened with two useful friendlies against World Cup-bound nations – a morale-boosting 3-0 victory over Morocco and a resilient and sometimes fluent goalless draw with a slightly superior Uruguay team.

Then came the imposition of two Concacaf Nations League fixtures: a virtually meaningless 5-0 win over Grenada and Tuesday’s visit to sodden San Salvador, in which an injury-time Jordan Morris header saved American blushes – and exemplified American determination.

A spirited second-half display was the main positive for the US, as Yunus Musah delivered a kinetic star turn. Substitute Paul Arriola was sent off for a lunge and El Salvador also ended the match with 10 men. It was an archetypal febrile, bad-tempered, VAR-less Concacaf scrap on a dreadful surface, a context that will bear little resemblance to the Group B games in Qatar against Wales, England and Iran. You’d hope.

Here are a few takeaways from the latest round up matches.

France famously won the ’98 World Cup with a goal-averse striker turned swimming-pool salesman, Stéphane Guivarc’h, leading the line. It shouldn’t be beyond the US to get out of their group without a top-class No 9. The wingers are a threat, the midfield has drive, and it’s not as if the central strikers contributed much from open play during the successful qualifying campaign.

As of now the best option appears to be Jesús Ferreira of FC Dallas. The in-form 21-year-old moves well off the ball and scored four goals against Grenada in Austin last Friday. True, you could fit the entire adult population of Grenada into