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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n The U.S. men's national team celebrates Aron Johannsson's goal that iced a 2-0 win over Azerbaijan on Tuesday. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;SAN FRANCISCO&amp;nbsp;\u2013 It was \u201Cfine.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That was the word Jurgen Klinsmann used over and over during his remarks following the U.S. men's national team's 2-0 victory over Azerbaijan on Tuesday night in a World Cup preparation friendly at Candlestick Park.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was fine, because even though the U.S. struggled to link passes and crack a defense that parked 10 players&amp;nbsp;behind the ball for most of the game, two late goals by substitutes Mix Diskerud (in the 75th&amp;nbsp;minute) and Aron Johannsson (in the 81st) earned the victory.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was fine, because the conditions, including a driving wind that made it difficult even to settle the ball on set pieces, were mostly to blame for the errant passes and disjointed play.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was fine, because the team was sluggish after two long weeks of training; fine, because the goal isn\u2019t to look perfect at this point in the team\u2019s preparations for the World Cup; fine, because this is just the early stages of the \u201Cprocess\u201D (another of Klinsmann's favorite words) and so there is no sense in reading too much into one game.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CEveryone did fine. They did what they were supposed to do,\u201D Klinsmann said. \u201COverall it was fine.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;WAHL: Three Thoughts on the USA's 2-0 win over Azerbaijan&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you think the U.S coach doth protest too much, know he is not alone.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CWe are exactly where we expected to be. We had a good two weeks here and finish off with a good 90 minutes against a difficult team. Regardless of the result, we feel good about where we are,\u201D said midfielder Michael Bradley. \u201CThe reality is that these games are -- &amp;nbsp;you want the results to be right because, obviously, that builds momentum and helps with confidence, but the results are not the most important thing. When people look back on 2014 they aren\u2019t going to be talking about games against Azerbaijan and Turkey [June 1] and Nigeria [June 1].\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That is true, but for at least the next few days they will talk about the team\u2019s performance Tuesday night, and those discussions are sure to settle on some of the more disconcerting aspects.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The U.S. came out in a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield, with Jermaine Jones at the base of the diamond in front of the back four. It looked like what it is: A formation the U.S. has not entirely mastered.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AS IT HAPPENED: USA 2, Azerbaijan 0&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CWe have been training for two weeks now to the get lines right and makes sure our spacing is right. With a flat four it is a lot easier to find your spacing, the diamond is different,\u201D goalkeeper Tim Howard said.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Klinsmann praised striker Jozy Altidore\u2019s effort, but he didn\u2019t have a shot on goal. He didn\u2019t look as helpless as he did in a Sunderland jersey but also wasn\u2019t nearly as dangerous as he\u2019ll need to be in Brazil. Chris Wondolowski, who started in place of late scratch Clint Dempsey (who had a sore groin Klinsmann that called \u201Cnot serious\u201D), failed to convert two headers in the first half that he\u2019d say he should have buried.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;One of the few positives was&amp;nbsp;Diskerud\u2019s influence on the game when he entered in the 71st minute. On his goal, Diskerud fought to head&amp;nbsp;a loose ball off a free kick down to Bradley, who hit a half volley that was cleared off the line by defender Elvin Yunuszade. But the ball then fell right to Diskerud, who buried his shot in the upper right corner from about eight yards out.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CREDITOR: Dempsey a late, 'precautionary' scratch with groin injury&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIt was an easy job for me to score,\u201D Diskerud said. \u201CI got tackled right when I hit the ball so I was just laying on the ground in agony.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Diskerud scored wearing the No. 10 jersey, Landon Donovan\u2019s old number. He didn\u2019t choose the number; it was assigned to him, but he has the kind of roll-with-it personality that makes it less of burden for him that it might have been for others.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIt is an honor. A lot of great players have worn that number for the U.S. previously. I will enjoy it,\u201D he said. \u201CWhen it comes to Landon, I am sure we will be playing together again someday, and, of course, he has more caps than me and so I am just borrowing the No. 10 for now . . .. I don\u2019t feel any pressure at all. I am just having fun with it.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Diskerud, who typically plays centrally but lined up on the right Tuesday, was among a group of players greatly affected by the failure of the U.S. to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics, Klinsmann said. Some players from Diskerud\u2019s generation never really recovered from that setback, the U.S. manager added, but Diskerud \u201Cshook it off and continued his path and came on very strongly at the Gold Cup last summer, and he kept building and building. He\u2019s obviously got great vision, passing technique, and he is calm on the ball. It was nice to see him come in and make a contribution.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Said Diskerud: \u201CYou grow a lot from certain experiences. It was a goal of mine to reach the Olympics. But another goal of mine was to reach the World Cup, and so I am pretty satisfied right now.\u201D\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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