In the 285 days since the U.S. men's national team last played, it seemed like there was a sea change for the Americans. The U.S. now has a player at Juventus in Weston McKennie, while Sergino Dest and Konrad de la Fuente are on the first-team roster at Barcelona. That's to go along with Christian Pulisic at Chelsea and Tyler Adams at UEFA Champions League semifinalists RB Leipzig.
With that kind of pedigree in its ranks, and youngsters like Borussia Dortmund's Giovanni Reyna and Valencia's Yunus Musah breaking through, expectations have been raised considerably, even as manager Gregg Berhalter tries to downplay them.