For the second time in just six days, the U.S. National Team got a late goal to knock off a Top-10 ranked European team on international grounds when a second-half goal from Bobby Wood gave the Americans a 2-1 win over Germany in Cologne on Wednesday. The win over the top-ranked team in the world came just days after a stunning 4-3, come-from-behind win over the Netherlands (ranked sixth in FIFA’s official rankings) on Friday.
Real Salt Lake captain Kyle Beckerman came on in the second half as the U.S. took control of the match against the 2014 FIFA World Cup champions, pairing masterfully in the midfield with Michael Bradley for the final 45 minutes.
The Germans, who topped the U.S. in the Group Stage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup 1-0 in Brazil, got a 12th minute goal from Mario Gotze and threatened to add to the lead throughout the first half. However, a Mix Diskerud goal in the 41st minute sent the match into halftime leveled at 1-1.
At the half, Jurgen Klinsmann brought on Beckerman along with DeAndre Yedlin and Brad Evans and the U.S. took control from there. However, it wasn’t until the 87th minute that it finally cracked the German defense and scored on a shot from Wood that broke the deadlock and gave the U.S. its third victory over a top 20 team this year, joining with the win over the Netherlands and an earlier 2-0 win over Mexico.
Beckerman is now scheduled to return to Real Salt Lake ahead of next week’s U.S. Open Cup match against Seattle Sounders FC 2 (USL). The fourth-round match is scheduled for an 8 p.m. kickoff from Rio Tinto Stadium.
Beckerman and RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando were among 35 players named Wednesday to the U.S. National Team’s preliminary roster for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which opens July 7. In addition to the two U.S. players, RSL also had Alvaro Saborio (Costa Rica), Elias Vasquez (Guatemala) and Demar Phillips (Jamaica) listed on their respective rosters.
