Nick Gray

Nashville Tennessean

The U.S. men's national soccer team took a late lead on a Tyler Adams goal against a 10-man Mexico squad and held on for a 1-0 victory Tuesday at Nissan Stadium.

"For all the reasons you can imagine, playing here against Mexico on 9/11, it was an important night for many fronts," U.S. coach Dave Sarachan said.

Here are five things to take away from Tuesday night's international friendly in Nashville:

Tyler Adams shines

Minutes after Mexico went to 10 men after Angel Zaldivar's reckless tackle, the New York Red Bulls' 19-year-old star Tyler Adams did something seldom seen by an American.

He found an opening in the Mexico box and put a shot on target. It was his first international goal.

Something's still missing

Sarachan has done a solid job in keeping the USMNT afloat in the past 10 months. They have been competitive with a young squad in many matches against stiff competition.

It's unfair to Sarachan that he has been needed for this long. With the coaching search lasting more than a few months after hiring Earnie Stewart as the general manager, the USMNT is wasting valuable opportunities to find out who can play in the new coach's system.

The laissez-faire approach is fine if the squad was full of veterans and had few long-term questions. That is currently not the case, and the 4-1-4-1 lineup shape displayed on Tuesday was muddled at best. The Americans improved quality only after Mexico went to 10 men.

"The first half, once again, could have been a little better in terms of our use of the ball and being a little dangerous," Sarachan said. "Obviously, in the second half, I thought we had a good start, and the red card allowed us a little more room."

The crowd

40,194 fans watched the game, which exceeded numbers expected by MLS Commissioner Don Garber, who told The Tennessean on Tuesday that the expected attendance was about 35,000.

The attendance did fall short of the U.S.-Panama Gold Cup game in 2017, as well as a Manchester City-Tottenham friendly last summer.

Plenty of Mexico fans were spread across the lower bowl and made their presence known.

Steffen is No. 1

U.S. goalkeeper Zack Steffen made a key save in the first half, tipping a shot off of a set piece just over the cross bar. He showed the same poise and save ability that he produced in the 2017 MLS playoffs and during the summer friendly season.

Steffen is certainly the top choice for the USMNT in goal at present.

"He made some key stops, and that's what goalkeepers are supposed to do," Sarachan said. "He has a comic presence. He's playing with a lot of confidence, obviously. He's moving himself up the ladder, no question about it."

A work in progress

The best thing about Tuesday for the U.S.: They won with a young squad.

Mexico did not bring Hirving Lozano or Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez to Nashville. But the young Americans did not cave in to the more veteran "B-team" Mexican squad.

When the physical play intensified — including a little taunting by U.S. defender Matt Miazga — Mexico was the team who had a player sent off and conceded a goal.

The kids have work to do, but they kept their heads in a rivalry affair.

"This was a group that wasn't going to lose tonight," Sarachan said. "I couldn't be more proud."