WALES DRAW FIRES US UP

USA boss Gregg has Lions in sights

GREGG BERHALTER says facing England is all the motivation his USA players need to get over the frustration of their draw with Wales.

Gareth Bale’s 82nd-minute penalty earned Wales a point after Rob Page’s side were outplayed for much of Monday’s Group B clash.

Next up for the USA are Gareth Southgate’s side on Friday at the Al Byat Stadium, with coach Berhalter (right) claiming he will not need to lift his players.

“This is a pretty easy one,” he said. “You’re getting to play England. That’s the recovery, right there.

“We get to play one of the teams we think are one of the favourites for the tournament and I don’t think there’s going to be many tired players come Friday.

“At this level, goals are difficult, unless you’re

England. For all the other teams, goals are pretty difficult. It was always going to be a tough game against England. I don’t think it was ever going to change, based on what happened against Wales.

“Now they’re getting into form, so we’re going to have to give it our best shot. A point in the first game isn’t the end of the world and we just keep going.”

Berhalter admitted his players were down after the draw (above) but claimed they can be proud of their performance.

“When you’re winning, you’re looking at how you’re going to close out the game, but it didn’t happen, so the guys and the staff are disappointed,” he added. “We talked about this before the game. In a World Cup, every play matters. You’ve got to be focused and every single play can have a potential outcome on the game.

“It’s a high level we’re playing at, a really high intensity. But when you look at the effort and how we played for most of the game, we’ll be OK, we’ll build on it.

“In any of these games, there are going to be ebbs and flows.”