USMNT defense turns biggest question mark into World Cup strength

SEATTLE — If no one truly knew how good the U.S.national team was before the World Cup started, then no one had even the slightest clue of how good its defense was. Up until a few weeks ago, and really up until Wednesday night, it was viewed as the biggest weakness in the lineup.

Now? After looking completely unfazed across 36 minutes defending with 10 men? Throw that storyline right in the dumpster. Not only did the U.S.keep a clean sheet in the 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina, but the Americans also defended as well as we’ve ever seen them defend, particularly in the second half. “It’s kind of an adrenaline rush whenever you do go down 10 men,” Weston McKennie said.

“Cause you’re like ‘Oh, s—t, if we can pull off this win and hold them to zero goals, it’s even bigger.’ “Everyone’s running everywhere and tackling and making sure we keep our structure.We don’t want to give up a goal.

It’d be easy to have an excuse if we did score but that’s not the type of team we are.” Tim Ream, whose place in the lineup has been so frequently questioned, had as good of a game as he’s ever had in a national team shirt.The same goes for Chris Richards, a rock all night long.

The two of them seemed to win every ball, to be everywhere. “Playing with Tim and Chris is a blessing,” goalkeeper Matt Freese said.“To have them in front of me and be part of that trio … a goalkeeper and the two center backs are always in constant communication throughout a game.

To be able to rely on them and feel their support as well as encourage them, push them and support them is really a blessing.” Incredibly, despite playing down a man for the majority of the second half, the U.S.had more expected goals than Bosnia during that span, 0.23 to 0.21.

They kept their shape no matter what, their organization saying everything about the job Mauricio Pochettino has done with this team, and their resilience saying everything about their character.  ...