The United States went into their final World Cup warm-up looking to build confidence and walk away with a win. They got neither, losing 2-1 to Germany, but if you watched the game without checking the scoreboard, you might have thought they'd done alright. That's either a good sign or a worrying one depending on how optimistic you're feeling.
Antonee Robinson was the man who got the Americans on the scoresheet, and honestly he's one of those players who just gets on with it. The Fulham left-back has been one of the more reliable performers in this US setup for a while now, and he showed exactly why here. When things went a bit sideways, he was still putting a shift in.
The problem for the US was that Germany were clinical when it mattered, and that's the difference between a side that's been doing this at the top level for decades and one that's still figuring out its identity on the big stage. The Americans showed fight, which is great, but fight only gets you so far when the finishing isn't quite there.
Now, losing a friendly before a tournament doesn't mean the whole thing's falling apart. England fans know that better than anyone. Some sides play terribly in warm-ups and then turn up on the day. The real test comes on 12 June when the US open their World Cup campaign against Paraguay. That's a game they absolutely need to take something from, and it's a much more manageable proposition than facing Germany.
What this match probably told us is that the US are a team with genuine energy and a decent defensive shape, but they'll need their attackers to be sharper when the tournament actually kicks off. Playing on home soil should help with that, and the crowd will no doubt lift them. There's enough in this squad to cause problems, but consistency is going to be the thing that defines how far they go.
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