AC Milan's Oguchi Onyewu looked comfortable in his defensive role on Saturday night according to USA coach Bob Bradley.

The 28-year old impressed against the likes of England's Wayne Rooney and Emile Heskey as the USA managed a vital 1-1 draw and his performance was lauded by Bradley who says he is very much an important player.

"I think with Gooch I would agree. Just the part of being back, he's a good competitor. I think the longer the game went on the more comfortable he felt, and that's important to us," Bradley said.

Onyewu himself agreed that he improved as the match went on but said he would have to improve even further as the tournament progresses.

"A lot of times that happens, you read the game better as it goes on. I think we were kind of flat early on in the game, especially when they got the early goal. Once we picked it up as a team, and we were able to get the momentum going, we got more comfortable as the game went on," he said.

"This definitely was a tough game, the second game is going to be even harder. I think it's important for us to use our momentum from this game and to push it towards the next two games. It's going to be very difficult, even more difficult as the tournament goes on and the results get more crucial."