The game we have all been waiting for has finally concluded – and with a draw? Yes, that’s right. The United States-England Group B World Cup matchup wrapped with a scoreless finish after 90 plus minutes of intense play.
Nonetheless, the draw is not a bad result for either team with an extra point being secured. In fact, U.S. head coach Gregg Berhalter and a few key players had nothing but good things to say about their presence on the pitch.
“I think both teams worked hard. Both teams gave each other difficulties at times. And all in all, pleased with the effort,” said Berhalter in a postgame interview. “Any time you can get a shutout in the World Cup, it's a good thing."
According to 24-year-old Christian Pulisic, America’s superstar forward, he’s happy with the pressure they applied to England’s backline, especially throughout most of the first half.
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“I think there were definitely a lot of positives,” Pulisic said. “We had stretches even in the first half where we looked dominant and created some chances. We unfortunately couldn’t finish some of them off but we managed the game quite well.”
“To come away with the draw against them is obviously a pretty good result,” he added.
His teammate Weston McKennie felt similar and wasn’t feeling down after the tie.
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“I don’t think we're really disappointed. We knew we would come out here and put up a fight. As you guys could see, I think the fans felt it, we were all in,” McKennie said.
“We had a majority of the chances. We were more dangerous. It just sucks that we couldn’t get it in the back of the net but obviously our goal is to try to play our best and I think that’s what we did,” McKennie added.
When it comes to what’s missing, Pulisic and McKennie think it’s simple: scoring goals.
“We just have to be slightly more clinical and just continue to be aggressive in creating more and more chances and that’s how you score goals,” Pulisic said.
Being dominant everywhere else, McKennie agrees with Pulisic that the lack of a quality end product continues to be a negative.
“That was the one thing that was missing. The final passes were there but unlucky. The most important thing is it's in our hands, how we want to continue in this group.”
When it comes to Tuesday’s pivotal matchup against Iran, Berhalter knows the U.S. has to win.
"We're proud but our work is not done. We have to win on Tuesday. We know five points gets us in. We gotta focus on the five points,” he said.
And at the end of the day, with the amount of support the USMNT has received and will continue to receive throughout this competition, it’s safe to say the Stars and Stripes will continue to impress.
“Today was great. In that corner, just seeing all the American fans the way they were cheering, it just pushes us along so much so we’re so grateful and we’re thankful for everyone back home watching,” Pulisic said.
The United States will take on Iran on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. ET.
