With two final friendlies before the World Cup starts in November, the United States men's national team turned in a lesson in how to inspire pessimism. A disjointed 2-0 loss to Japan preceded a dull 0-0 draw with Saudi Arabia, leaving the team utterly momentumless 55 days before they kick off against Wales in Qatar.
The team went into the international break hoping to shore up their roster and build cohesion, but the combination of injuries and poor performances stood in the way of those objectives, leaving Gregg Berhalter some difficult choices ahead of Nov.