The final World Cup dress rehearsal for the U.S. men’s national soccer team came Tuesday in an almost empty stadium against an unexceptional opponent.
The 0-0 draw with Saudi Arabia in Murcia, Spain, was better than four days earlier but still far from the quality Coach Gregg Berhalter’s team is going to need to muster for any hope of advancing to the knockout stage of the sport’s quadrennial spectacle in Qatar.
Less than eight weeks before their Group B opener against Wales, the Americans welcomed back star attacker Christian Pulisic from a minor injury, lost oft-injured winger Gio Reyna to a first-half injury scare and failed again to create high-quality scoring chances.