US show fight and hunger, but lose final World Cup prep match 2-1 to Germany

Ready or not, here comes the group stage. The US men concluded their pre-World Cup preparations with a 2-1 loss against Germany on Saturday at Soldier Field, in front of a lively sellout crowd of 63,636. The fans made their way to the historic venue on a Chicago summer afternoon which alternated palpable heat with occasional drizzling rain. Antonee Robinson scored the United States’ only goal on a thunderbolt volley, with German goals coming on either side. Much of this cycle has been messy for the US, but Saturday’s showing validated this group’s readiness less than a week from Group D kicking off. There are still questions about how to adequately get service to the nimble Balogun, who managed to make just 20 touches in 72 minutes as he was marked closely by the burly Jonathan Tah. Christian Pulisic and Sergiño Dest struggled to make much of an impact from the wing, a testament to Germany’s structure and eagerness to close the US down before they could gain a head of steam. Even after conceding, the US seldom appeared to switch off and make compounding mistakes, which in itself showed progress from March’s friendlies against Belgium and Portugal. Germany wasted no time in setting a dominant tone. After Tyler Adams committed a foul near the box, Joshua Kimmich sent in a curling indirect free kick. Some clever screening separated Kai Havertz from his mark (Tim Ream) while Miles Robinson lingered a step behind the Arsenal midfielder. …