The United States men’s national team made a sleepy start to the post-Jurgen Klinsmann era in San Diego on Sunday, playing to a workmanlike 0-0 stalemate against Serbia at Qualcomm Stadium.
In Bruce Arena’s first game back in charge after a decade out of the job, his U.S. side looked serviceable but also very much like a team at the beginning of preseason. This was the first of two friendlies bookending the annual January camp for Major League Soccer-based players (plus ex-MLSer Jorge Villafana who’s now with Liga MX’s Santos Laguna). The other will come against Jamaica on Friday in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Arena had previously managed the Americans from 1998 through 2006, collecting a program-record 71 wins and taking the USA to a modern-day best quarterfinals place at the 2002 World Cup. A half decade under the ambitious but disappointing Klinsmann had clearly gotten the U.S. nowhere. And when the final phase of World Cup qualifying began disastrously with two painful losses at home against Mexico and away in Costa Rica – a dire 4-0 drubbing – late last year, Arena was recalled to put out the fire and get the U.S. to an eighth straight World Cup in Russia next year.
The Serbia team that had turned up in Southern California was an inexperienced squad that could fairly be called second- or third-rate. All but one of the 18 players who traveled plays in the lightly-regarded Serbian SuperLiga. Another plays in Cyprus, where the soccer isn’t much better. Just six players had made their senior team debut for Serbia prior to this game, and none had represented their country more than once. Just three players were older than 25.
The U.S., without its European-based players, wasn’t exactly at full strength, either. But then again, these days limiting the roster to domestic players doesn’t dilute the team as much as it once did, with a slew of major contributors returned from overseas in recent years.
The Yanks, who have been in camp for three weeks, made a heartening beginning to the Second Arena Era with high pressure and optimistic possession, connecting well on the ground. As the game wore on, however, the pace and initiative were predictably sapped as the USA was confronted with its own lack of match fitness while a half-dozen substitutions were injected into the game.
Still, the Americans showed flashes. In the 19th minute, Jozy Altidore – making his 100th U.S. appearance – knocked down a ball for Jermaine Jones, who scythed a left-footed half-volley just wide of Filip Manojlovic’s goal.
The U.S. got a scare in the 23rd minute, when Greg Garza bundled down Jovan Dokic on the corner of the box. A free kick was awarded just outside the area, when a penalty was probably the appropriate punishment.
The second was less interesting still, and even messier. Nothing much happened until the 58th minute, when Sebastian Lletget, making an encouraging debut after coming on for Jones at halftime, floated a cross to Sacha Kljestan, whose looping header sailed just wide.
As American energy sapped further in the second half, Serbia grew more assertive. But this team of third-stringers didn’t have the wherewithal to bring their attacks to threatening conclusions until goalkeeper Nick Rimando was finally forced to make a real save in the 89th minute on a Serbian counter, conserving the tie. At the other end, Chris Pontius, making his debut, rolled a good look wide and Jordan Morris blasted a shot over.
