USA manager Jurgen Klinsmann admitted it was a 'big step' to beat Italy on their own turf in an international friendly.

The US defeated the four-time world champions 1-0 in Genoa on Wednesday night with Clint Dempsey netting the winner in the 55th minute and although Klinsmann was not getting too carried away with the result, he was delighted with the performance of a very focused and disciplined side.

"Obviously from our end, we are really pleased with the game and with the result," he told ussoccer.com.

"If you beat Italy on their own soil then that means a lot. For us, the goal was to learn - to come here to learn.

"The challenge that this game gave us - especially on the tactical side, to read the game ahead, to always think one step ahead - for our players, it was big. It was a big step for them to be constantly on high alert for 90 minutes.

"I think they've done an awesome job today. I think they take a lot from the game, not only because they won the game, but from an experience point of view because we said months ago we want to play the biggest teams we can so we can improve ourselves.

"Obviously it was a big step for us."

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