Bruce Arena is pleased with U.S. team despite 0-0 tie with Serbia

During his last 8 1/2 seasons as coach of the Galaxy, Bruce Arena prowled the sideline like a caged animal, gesticulating at his players and growling at officials.

But in his return to the national team Sunday, he stood calmly at the end of his team’s dugout, one foot on the end of the bench, quietly watching his team play Serbia to a 0-0 tie at Qualcomm Stadium.

For Arena, the result of Sunday’s game wouldn’t be found on the scoreboard. It was in the play of his team as it prepares for two World Cup qualifiers in March.

And by that measure, he thought the U.S. was a clear winner.

“We played well,” Arena said. “If we won 5-0 or lost 5-0, I’m not sure it would change our world.

“Results are always important. We didn’t get the results that we have preferred. But for the most part I was pleased with the performance.”

That marks modest progress for a national team still smarting from losses to Mexico and Costa Rica in World Cup qualifiers in November. Those results dropped the U.S. to the bottom of the six-team standings with eight games to play, costing coach Jurgen Klinsmann his job.

“The biggest thing we get from this game is just confidence,” said midfielder Darlington Nagbe, who fell out of favor with Klinsmann last summer but had a stellar game in his national team return Sunday. “We defended pretty well and attacked pretty well. Now it’s just getting the finishing touches.”

Arena was also returning to the national team, and in his first game on the sideline since 2006 he used the same 4-2-3-1 formation he favored at the end of his stay with the Galaxy. That helped the U.S. create a number of scoring opportunities, getting off 12 shots.

In the first half, Nagbe sent two shots wide and Galaxy midfielder Jermaine Jones missed on a left-footed shot from just outside the penalty area. Early in the second half, Sacha Kljestan’s glancing header was just wide and in the final minute Chris Pontius missed an open corner from the edge of the six-yard box.

“We’re still at the beginning of preseason basically,” Kljestan said. “In the end, building the relationships with the guys that are playing next to you is one of the most important things heading into March.”

March and this spring’s qualifiers with Honduras and Panama were mentioned so frequently Sunday that it might actually explain the futility of the U.S. attack: The Americans couldn’t find the Serbian net because they were aiming for March.

“Everyone’s looking to get the job done in March,” Nagbe said.

Added Arena: “The games that are going to count are the ones in March.”

Arena has one more friendly, against Jamaica on Friday in Chattanooga, Tenn., to audition the MLS players in the national team pool before he calls in the European-based core of his team for the next round of qualifiers.

Among the players that impressed against Serbia, the coach said, were Nagbe, goalkeeper Nick Rimando, defender Jorge Villafana and Galaxy midfielder Sebastian Lletget, the latter two making their debuts with the national team.

And for those looking for omens in Sunday’s game, there’s this: in Arena’s first game as national team coach in 1998, the U.S. played Australia to a scoreless tie in California. The Americans ended that World Cup cycle in the tournament quarterfinals, the best finish by a U.S. team in the modern era.

“It’s another step along the way,” Michael Bradley said. “We feel good about the work that’s gone into the last few weeks in terms of reestablishing what we need to be about. And in making sure that when the big moments and the real games come around this year that we have a real clear idea who we are and the ways that we can be successful.”