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. 

Bosnia is not Spain or France, but it isn’t a team with no attacking talent at all. It seemed to have no ideas, to ask no questions. Sergej Barbarez’s substitutes had no impact. Freese, who hadn’t been seriously tested in his first two starts, handled all three saves he was asked to make with little problems. 

“Because of the way we train, because of the conversations that we have, the communication that we have, the fight, the intensity, the aggression with and without the ball … there was not one guy that I could look at and say, ‘OK, we may need to switch things around here,’ ” Ream said. “It was a steely focus. Unless you’re on the field and you see it in guys’ eyes, it’s hard to understand, but it felt so comfortable, even down to 10 men.” 

Every team says the right things about their confidence and composure. So did the U.S., but seeing is believing with these things. 

Now we’ve seen it. Now we can believe it. 

It was just four months ago that Belgium winger Jérémy Doku had his way with the U.S. in a 5-2 friendly victory in Atlanta. It’s hard to see that happening again after watching the U.S. — more tactically sound, more systematically refined — defend throughout this tournament. 

Still, Belgium will easily be the best attacking team the U.S. has faced all tournament. The two-goal cushion that felt like a lifeline against Bosnia was the same scoreline that Belgium erased in the span of five minutes to force extra time against Senegal earlier Wednesday afternoon, eventually winning when Youri Tielemans scored on a penalty kick. 

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If Wednesday wasn’t proof that they can handle it, though, then nothing will be. 

“We were quite comfortable in our shape when we had 11 men, and then when we had 10 men, we knew what we had to do to limit them in different scenarios in the game,” Jedi Robinson said. “Everyone’s positioning is pretty good. We were all on the same page, the effort was there. And that’s a great platform for us to go and perform.”