EAST HARTFORD, Conn. -- United States manager Bruce Arena pronounced himself satisfied with the national team's performance in a 2-1 friendly win over Ghana on Saturday, a match that served as the lone tune-up for the Americans ahead of the Gold Cup.
Goals either side of halftime from Dom Dwyer and Kellyn Acosta staked the hosts to a 2-0 lead and goalkeeper Brad Guzan saved a first-half penalty from Asamoah Gyan, a play that became even more critical when the Black Stars' captain scored from a free kick on the hour.
"It was a good test for our team," Arena said at his postgame news conference. "All 90 minutes we had to be in it mentally, had to be smart tactically, and we were able to do that."
Dwyer, who was making his international debut, stole the headlines, volleying home a deflected shot in the 19th minute to put the U.S. 1-0 up. Dwyer became the 48th U.S. player to score on his debut, and the first U.S. player to accomplish the feat since Paul Arriola did it in a friendly against Puerto Rico on May 22, 2016.
Dwyer is married to U.S. women's national team star Sydney Leroux, and his goal saw the two become the second husband-and-wife team to score in U.S. national team history. Claudio Reyna and his wife, Danielle Egan Reyna were the first, though Dwyer and Leroux were the first to score after they were married.
"This is certainly a big opportunity for [Dwyer]," Arena said. "He became a U.S. citizen in [March] and I know he was looking forward to it.
"You never know what happens in a game like this. The first 10 minutes or so he looked a little nervous out there, but he got a hold of the game and did well. I'm real pleased for him."
Dwyer and Leroux have a 10-month old son, Cassius, and Arena was asked if he expected the son to play for the U.S. someday.
"You aren't expecting me to be coaching, do you?" Arena quipped.
He later added, "I know it's a fabulous story that a family has both parents playing for their respective national teams. That's a pretty incredible story. I'm real pleased for the Dwyers."
Leroux and son Cassius watched the game on television with her teammate Becky Sauerbrunn, who Sauerbrunn posted video of Leroux holding the infant to Twitter, taken in the aftermath of the goal.
"I'm insanely proud of him and so happy for the overall win for the MNT," Leroux, who was born in Canada, told the Associated Press. "I love the fact that we both came to the USA from other countries and get to chase our dreams together wearing the crest that means so much to us.
"When he scored, it's really hard to describe the feeling. Just chills. I know this is only the beginning for him.''
Arena was full of praise for the U.S. midfield, especially the central trio of Dax McCarty, Acosta, and Joe Corona, who were forced to battle against a technical and physical Ghana side.
"I thought Dax and Kellyn were very good," said Arena. "It was a real battle in there, real challenging. I think they held up well."
Arena added: "Joe Corona I thought was very good. He got a little bit tired at the end, he had a little bit of time off Club Tijuana and was just getting back into the swing of things. I thought he gave us 70 good minutes."
In terms of the defense, Arena was full of positives as well, especially for right-back Graham Zusi, who is still gaining experience at the spot after spending most of his career in midfield.
"I thought he had a real good game," said Arena. "I remember one play in the first half when he stood up [Frank Acheampong], who is an outstanding player, very quick, and Graham did a good job.
"The game for our back line was outstanding. For Matt [Hedges] it was his third cap, and he did a terrific job. I thought [Matt] Besler held up well. Jorge Villafana, our left-back, this was his third or fourth cap, he's just getting better and better."
As for where the U.S. needs to improve, Arena highlighted a couple of areas. He felt his side conceded too many fouls and could have managed the game better in the game's latter stages.
"I think we fouled in some areas of the field where Ghana was very dangerous on set pieces and scored a terrific goal," he said. "We conceded too many free kicks in dangerous spots. We got caught a couple of times on the counter, which is to be expected.
"When we play Ghana they have excellent pace all over the field and they get at you a couple of times, and they certainly did that today."
But overall, Arena felt that the game served its purpose ahead of the U.S team's Gold Cup opener against Panama next Saturday.