Denmark 3-2 USA
Bendtner scored a hat-trick as Denmark came from behind 1-2 to win in the last 10 minutes. Altidore opened the scoresheet for USMNT while Johannsson gave a 2-1 lead assisted by Altidore
MNT head coach JURGEN KLINSMANN:
On tonight’s game:
“I think overall this was a very even and entertaining game. I think we gave them an eye-to-eye game and we could have won it, but we didn’t. We saw a lot of good things that we wanted to see on our end. Obviously, we’ve got to correct a couple things because we conceded three goals, and overall it’s just a little bit frustrating when you lose in the last minute.”
On what he liked and disliked from tonight’s game:
“Obviously, what you don’t like is late goals. Maybe it’s just losing focus for a second, losing your mark or because of heavy legs getting tired a little bit. You never want to give a game away that you’re up 2-1. I think a tie probably would have been a fair result, but as I said a lot of positives. I think the backline overall did a very good job. From the left to the right, they were all on top of things as much as they could be. I think Michael Bradley was present in the midfield trying to organize a lot. You’re always happy for your strikers when they score. You hope then for a third one if there’s an opportunity and we had it with John Brooks’ header in the last second. There’s a lot of good stuff taken away from this game, definitely. We have to step it up in terms of managing the game all 90 minutes. You lead in Denmark 2-1? Get the job done and go home with three points. At least tie it. That’s all the stuff to improve, but overall we did a lot of good stuff.”
On the struggle to maintain possession in the first half and how they planned to fix it at half:
“We knew that Denmark is a very good possession-oriented team. That’s part of their style that Morten Olsen developed over many, many years here, and they do it really well with their technical capabilities. They move off of the ball really well. So what we had problems with the first half was to get pressure on the ball, to get closer to them in midfield and shut them down in terms of their passing lanes and the space that they find. I think it was a little bit better in the second half. We got closer to them. We denied them those little passes between the lines and that’s stuff we’re going to have to deal with and do better.”
On bringing in Ventura Alvarado for his first cap in place of Michael Orozco:
“Michael Orozco was giving us a signal that he was just simply exhausted and that led to Ventura’s first cap, which was something special for him.”
On Denmark’s captain and playmaker Christian Eriksen:
“I said yesterday to the media here that he obviously is a huge talent. He’s fun to watch and at a young age already taking over so much responsibility on the field, leading his team and keeping the rhythm going. It’s really fun to watch him, so it will be interesting to see how he continues his career.”
On Nicklas Bendtner’s performance:
“If you make three goals then you get all the compliments in the world, and he deserves them for that performance absolutely.”
MNT forward JOZY ALTIDORE
On scoring his goal:
“It was a great ball from Timmy [Chandler]. It looked like the defenders were confused a little bit, and I just tried to kind of stay with the play. Then, I tried to hit it first time and get it on target and it went in.”
On losing a game where the team twice had the lead:
“Yeah it’s annoying because it seems to be a trend over the last five or six games and it’s just not good enough at this level. Too many lapses at critical points in the game, and maybe it’s a little bit of lack of experience as well, but it’s something we’ll have to cut out getting closer now to a competition in the Gold Cup. We need to get better.”
On the cold, damp playing conditions:
“Yeah it was weird, it was a cold one. It was a typical spring day; it was cold and wet. But look, everybody at this level has experienced extreme temperature, so it’s no excuse.”
On preparing for Switzerland:
“Switzerland’s another tough game. It’s another good opponent. It’s another opportunity for us to work on things, but we have to take these chances seriously now, because there’s not many left until we start a competition and that’s where it counts.”
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