Kids come through for U.S.

With many of the stars on the U.S. national team playing with Major League Soccer clubs this weekend, some of the younger players got a chance to show they can contribute in international play.

Benny Feilhaber scored his first goal for the national team and assisted on another Saturday night to help the Americans tune up for a busy summer of tournaments with a 4-1 exhibition victory over China.

Feilhaber was among five U.S. starters who entered with five or fewer national team appearances. All made key contributions, with Feilhaber also assisting on Clint Dempsey’s second-half goal.

“Each and every game I play, I feel more confident and the players around me have felt more confidence with my game, so I’ve been able to get more balls and more touches,” Feilhaber said. “That’s the important thing about it. Every game, you get more balls, more touches, more confidence.”

Sacha Kljestan, making his national team debut, fed Feilhaber for a goal in the 28th minute that gave the U.S. a 2-1 lead.

Michael Bradley, son of new U.S. Coach Bob Bradley, set up DaMarcus Beasley’s penalty-kick goal to open the scoring in the 10th minute, and defenders Jonathan Bornstein and Jonathan Spector made key contributions from the back line.

“It’s a good sign for the future,” Dempsey said. “We have a lot of young kids coming up. They’re very talented. All it’s going to take is a little time for them to get adjusted and they’ll be doing the same things we were doing. It will be more difficult to keep your spot. That’s what you want, a more competitive environment.”

Landon Donovan and Eddie Johnson were among the stars playing in MLS this weekend, their last club games ahead of the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup. The U.S. opens the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean on Thursday night against Guatemala. After that tournament, the U.S. plays as an invited guest at the Copa America, South America’s championship.