Despite the best efforts of the Men’s National Team in a recent friendly against Denmark, a hat trick from Danish forward Nicklas Bendter lead to a late-game victory. The U.S. had the lead in the beginning of both halves of the game, but ended up conceding two goals in the last minutes, frustrating fans and players. According to veteran midfielder Michael Bradley, this is becoming a trend for the team that needs to end:

“I thought we handled things for the most part pretty well, but if you don’t see the game out, if you don’t take care of things in the last few minutes then you’re not going to ever get what you deserve. I think the frustrating thing is that it’s not the first time that that’s happened to us, where we've not been able to see a game out and we've got to start to learn our lesson.”

Not All Bad for the MNT
Although Klinsmann will need to address the defense's late-game troubles, the friendly held some key positive moments for the U.S. In the 19th minute of the game, Timmy Chandler had his first assist for the National Team. Jozy Altidore met the ball by the post and scored the game's first goal with his left foot. In the 66th minute, Michael Bradley sent a beautiful long ball to Altidore, who then poked the ball to Aaron Johannsson, sending it into the vacant goal.

Breaking the Losing Streak
The Men's Team returned to Zurich for more training, and look forward to breaking the streak of second half losses for the upcoming Switzerland match-up. Forward Aaron Johannsson is out for the game with an infection, so Jordan Morris has been called in to take his place while Johannsson undergoes treatment. Morris proved his worth to Jurgen Klinsmann by scoring the opening goal in the U-23 MNT’s 5-2 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina on March 27 in Tuzla.

Photo & Video Courtesy of U.S. Soccer.