U.S. sharp in narrow WC sendoff loss to Germany

USA v Germany USMNT looks sharp in World Cup sendoff loss to Germany The United States lost 2-1 to Germany at Soldier Field in Chicago on Saturday in its last match before the start of the FIFA World Cup, turning in another solid performance after Sunday's 3-2 win over Senegal. Kai Havertz opened the scoring for Germany with a header in the second minute that caught U.S. goalkeeper Matthew Freese flatfooted, but the Americans grew into the game immediately after giving up the early goal. Toward the end of the second half, Antonee Robinson equalized for the U.S. with a stunning volley from 23 yards out, blasting the ball past Oliver Baumann in the German goal to make it 1-1 at the break. Mauricio Pochettino didn't make any changes at halftime to a U.S. side that had the momentum as the first half came to a close, but a clever move from Germany set Leroy Sané up for a first-time finish to put the visitors back in front just before the hour mark. This was the last match for the U.S. before the start of the World Cup, where it will begin Group D play against Paraguay on June 12 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, before games against Australia and Türkiye. Germany, which has failed to get out of the group stage at the last two World Cups, kicks off its campaign against Curaçao on June 14 and will face Ecuador and Ivory Coast after that in Group E. Information from ESPN Global Research was used in this recap. Game Information - Referees: - Piero Maza