USMNT show 'American spirit' against Iran, says coach Gregg Berhalter

advanced to the knockout stage of the

by beating Iran 1-0 at Al Thumama Stadium on Tuesday to finish second in Group B. The USA will face the Netherlands at Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday.

After the game,

said the American spirit his team has shown in Qatar will capture the imagination of viewers at home.

"I'm sure there was a bunch of people back home watching, and I think the US reporters have talked about defining this group, and it starts to take shape on these performances,"

Berhalter said.

"You see how unified this group is, how much energy they put into every game, and along the way there was some good soccer.

"That's the American spirit, and I think people will appreciate that at home.

"There's no need to project how far this team can go. It's great to be in this knockout format, we will relish it, and we'll stick together and enjoy the experience.

"The end of the game is really what I'm most proud of, to hang on in there, to get the win and not buckle. This is the first time in 92 years we've had two shutouts at a World Cup."

Chelsea star, Christian Pulisic who scored the only goal of the match in the 38th minute was forced to leave the pitch due to injury. After the game, Berhalter said Pulisic has been taken to hospital.

"He was taken off due to injury,"

Berhalter said.

"He was taken to hospital as a precaution. It was a blow to his abdomen, an abdominal injury.

"We FaceTimed him after the game from the locker room, we got to see him and he's in good spirits.

"The goal was something we'd been taking about for a while, to get the team to shift over to one side.

"That's the special quality Christian has, as soon as the ball is wide, he goes in with intensity, he crashes the box and makes it very difficult with his change of pace."

The USA has only reached the World Cup's quarter-finals in 2002 and Berhalter insists they don’t want to go home on Saturday.

"It's a great opportunity, but we're not going into it thinking it's an honour. We deserve to be in the position we're in, we don't want to go home,"

he said.

"Now it's about how we recover and prepare to play against this Dutch team, who have a very clear idea and are very well coached. We have to come up with a way to beat them."

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