Soccer America interviewed U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann following their 1-0 defeat away to Belgium in an international friendly.On the match:
"I think it was an interesting game for both sides. You saw in the first 25 minutes we had good passing movement and we were really involved in the game. The Belgian side with their individual class, created some good chances before halftime. In the second half, the reaction was very positive after conceding the goal. We kept moving forward and we kept creating chances. We take a lot away from this game. Overall some very, very good points and an interesting game I think for everybody."
On the impact of young players:
"I think we have some very interesting youngsters coming through the ranks. Brek Shea is definitely one of them. He's full of energy, he's creative, and he’s fast and has a good physical presence. He's one of the kids we are going to build over the next cycle. He's eligible to play for the Olympic team, and so are others as well, like Juan Agudelo. You see their talent and what we try to do is build them one step at a time. It's good to see guys like Brek come over here and play against a strong side. We've told the young players it's now their time to challenge the established ones. That's the message they've got and they have three years to do that."
On substitutes and the second half:
“At halftime our problems weren't too difficult to read. We had problems with [Axel] Witsel and [Marouane] Fellaini passing too many balls through the middle because Maurice Edu was our only player in that position. Bringing Kyle Beckerman in helped Maurice out in that way and we were far more solid. They created far less chances in the second half. Step by step, we pushed it forward. The goal came at a moment when we thought we had the feeling we were going to get more out of the game.”
"I think it was an interesting game for both sides. You saw in the first 25 minutes we had good passing movement and we were really involved in the game. The Belgian side with their individual class, created some good chances before halftime. In the second half, the reaction was very positive after conceding the goal. We kept moving forward and we kept creating chances. We take a lot away from this game. Overall some very, very good points and an interesting game I think for everybody."
On the impact of young players:
"I think we have some very interesting youngsters coming through the ranks. Brek Shea is definitely one of them. He's full of energy, he's creative, and he’s fast and has a good physical presence. He's one of the kids we are going to build over the next cycle. He's eligible to play for the Olympic team, and so are others as well, like Juan Agudelo. You see their talent and what we try to do is build them one step at a time. It's good to see guys like Brek come over here and play against a strong side. We've told the young players it's now their time to challenge the established ones. That's the message they've got and they have three years to do that."
On substitutes and the second half:
“At halftime our problems weren't too difficult to read. We had problems with [Axel] Witsel and [Marouane] Fellaini passing too many balls through the middle because Maurice Edu was our only player in that position. Bringing Kyle Beckerman in helped Maurice out in that way and we were far more solid. They created far less chances in the second half. Step by step, we pushed it forward. The goal came at a moment when we thought we had the feeling we were going to get more out of the game.”
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