Sebastian Lletget Scores as USMNT Lose 2-1 to Switzerland in Friendly

The U.S. men's national team showed its promise Sunday in a friendly against Switzerland, with the team's young talent showing bursts of ability and upside. 

But sloppy defending cost the team, as the Swiss pulled out a 2-1 win at Kybun Park in St. Gallen, Switzerland. 

Sebastian Lletget scored the game's opening goal for the United States, only to see Switzerland strike back with goals from Ricardo Rodriguez and Steven Zuber. 

It took the United States just five minutes to get on the board, as the ball made its way to Lletget in the box after a series of lucky bounces. He didn't waste the opportunity:

But the lead was short-lived. Ricardo Rodriguez's long-range effort in the 10th minute took an unfortunate deflection off Reggie Cannon and beat Ethan Horvath, equalizing the match. 

Rodriguez could have had a brace in the 40th minute after a controversial handball called on Sergino Dest in the box, but he fluffed the penalty:

Zuber made it 2-1 after the United States scrambled to clear the ball out of the box in the 63rd minute. For all of the early positives Sunday, the USMNT's back line left much to be desired. 

But there were positives for the young USMNT side to build on going forward. The team's pressing, buzzing approach allowed the players to control the tempo, namely in the first half.

They weren't static in attack, either, with players like Dest and Gio Reyna, among others, getting excellent chances on goal. 

A couple of bounces one way or another and perhaps the USMNT draws or wins this game. There were goals in this game for the United States.

But Switzerland carved the USMNT defense to shreds in the second half, and were it not for a few timely Horvath saves and less-than-clinical finishing from the Swiss, perhaps the deficit would have been far greater for the Americans. 

Ultimately, a friendly is just a friendly. But there's little doubt that this young USMNT side has some major question marks to answer in the next year in the build up to the 2022 World Cup, namely in the back.