United States

Germany loss a painful reminder for USMNT: 'We still have a lot of work to do'

Updated Oct. 14, 2023 9:01 p.m. ET

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — Matt Turner could be forgiven for having flashbacks.

The last time the U.S. goalkeeper faced a top European team while playing for his country was almost a year ago, at the World Cup in Qatar, when the Netherlands eliminated the Americans with a 3-1 win — the same score by which four-time world champ Germany beat the U.S. in Saturday's friendly in soggy New England.

[Christian Pulisic strikes first, but USMNT overpowered by Germany]

The U.S. got off to a better start this time, going up 1-0 on a sensational individual first-half goal by star forward Christian Pulisic. But in the end, again, a superior opponent dealt Turner, Pulisic and the rest of the USMNT a multiple-goal defeat and another harsh reality check.

"Little moments could have made a big difference for us in the World Cup, and it's kind of like the same story," Turner said following Saturday's contest. "We want to compete with teams like this and not just compete and be able to beat them. I think we learned a lot again."

All week leading up to the exhibition, the hosts spoke about how important this match could be in the buildup to the 2026 World Cup, which the U.S. will co-host along with continental neighbors Canada and Mexico. Not only do the Germans boast one of the deepest and most talented player pools in the sport, they were playing for the first time under new manager Julian Nagelsmann. They were also desperate for a good performance after a slew of poor results over the last year.

But the Germans were sloppy early on. Once they got going in the second half, though, the Americans were, as defender Chris Richards put it, "chasing shadows a little bit."

"It's kind of like seeing a train wreck coming, but you couldn't quite move from it," Richards said. "That's kind of what it felt like at some points."

Still, there were some silver linings for the home side. The last loss to a truly all-planet foe ended a World Cup cycle. With soccer's next showpiece event still well over two years away, this one, in theory at least, can be used as a valuable reminder of what not to do against a squad that can and will punish any mistake immediately and with devastating ruthlessness.

"The speed at which these top teams can play at, the combinations they can play in really tight spaces — it was important to learn," U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter said when asked what lessons he could take from the loss. "It's about learning from these moments and understanding that we need to stay in it for every single minute of the game to have a chance."

By his own admission, the result took some of the shine off of Pulisic's strike.

"It doesn't feel the same as when you come out with a win, obviously," Pulisic said, though he allowed that the effort was "up there with some of my better goals with the national team."

As one of the most experienced members of the U.S. team, Pulisic knows better than most how good the Germans can be on their day. That wasn't lost on the 25-year-old, who began his professional career with Bundesliga titan Borussia Dortmund.

"They have some unbelievable players, especially in transition," he said. "I mean, I think there's for sure some things we can avoid as far as losing the ball in certain areas of the field that hurt us. But they were good. They were good with winning a lot of second balls today and in transition. You gotta give them credit."

There are few moral victories in sports. And for a team that has talked big about how beating teams like Germany is crucial to making a deep run in 2026, giving up three unanswered goals after going up 1-0 stings. The USMNT won't have too much time to lick its wounds, though, not with another tough test in store Tuesday against Ghana in Nashville.

It's not disrespectful to suggest that the Black Stars are a significant step down from Germany. But they're no slouches, either. The U.S. must execute well both in the attack and defensively, consistently, to end October's international window on a high note. It's another friendly, but suddenly there's some pressure to respond. That's how it should be. More than 10 months on from its World Cup exit, the USMNT experienced another painful reminder Saturday of what it takes to be successful at the highest level.

"It's not exactly the way the Netherlands [game] played out but yeah, similar fashion for sure," defender Tim Ream said. "We'll analyze and look at video, but there's still a lot of things that we can do better, a lot of things we can improve upon and a lot of things to work on to be able to compete for 90 minutes, not just 45.

"We still have a lot of work to do."

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.