08 October, 2017
Christian Pulisic turned a clearance into a goal less than eight minutes into the USA men's national team's make-or-be broken World Cup qualifier Friday night in Orlando.
Christian Pulisic #10 of the United States in action during the United States Vs Costa Rica CONCACAF International World Cup qualifying match at Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey on September 01, 2017 in Harrison, New Jersey.
When he took over from Jurgen Klinsmann 11 months ago, one of Arena's stated aims was to get the team to regain confidence in its strong points.
"Across the board we had guys ready for a big game". It had gone so well, in fact, that United States Coach Bruce Arena could even feign the tiniest bit of disappointment afterward. This time, the complete exact is happening as Mexico have already qualified and US are in an extremely delicate position where even one loss out of their final two games will mean elimination.
For the Americans, a victory Friday was essential.
Bobby Wood capped the scoring for the Yanks when he made it 4-0 in the 63rd minute, encapsulating a nightmare game for Los Canaleros. Altidore added a penalty kick just before intermission to settle the outcome.
The fourth, scored by Wood, came just after the hour.
His side went from strength to strength thereafter, with Pulisic paying back Toronto and former Sunderland striker Altidore with an assist to double their side's lead. Big saves by Penedo denied Wood and Altidore on breakthroughs before Wood skipped past Baloy and was yanked back by substitute Armando Cooper.
"This week we had a lot of meetings", added center back Omar Gonzalez. With a side who have played an average of 7 years with the national team, Costa Rica are bound to confirm their qualification when they conclude their match against Honduras, making their final game against Panama a formality.
The early-arriving crowd at the new downtown stadium buzzed with excitement, but below the surface, there was high-level anxiety. After taking a handful of heavy knocks in the first 10 minutes of the second half, Bruce Arena took the youngster out for defensive midfielder Dax McCarty in the 56th minute to protect Pulisic from taking any more of a beating than he had to.
Three of the last four USA-Panama matches have ended in a draw with another 2015 match requiring penalty kicks to decide the victor.
The Americans crackled with energy and ambition at the start.
Let's go back to October of 2013 when Panama was in a similar situation as the U.S.is in now.
It began with Howard's long goal kick. Howard booted the ball deep down the pitch to midfield, where Wood rose to flick on a header.
On the ensuing goal kick, the USA also went Route 1, with Wood heading along Tim Howard's long ball and Altidore kicking it on to Pulisic, who did the rest.
He dodged Roman Torres' sliding challenge. Pulisic put his pass right on the money, skimming past the feet of the Panama defense and onto the boot of Altidore for a simple finish and a 2-0 lead. Pulisic left Penedo in his wake and, from an acute angle, slid the 6-yard shot into the vacant net as he tumbled to the wet grass.
For a long time, it looked like the Socceroos, struggling for peak form and bumped into the fourth round of Asian qualifying for the FIFA World Cup, was on a collision course with the United States.
A desperation tackle by DeAndre Yedlin on Alberto Quintero and fine save by Howard on Gabriel Torres midway through the first half kept Panama scoreless, but its forays forward exposed the US defensive deficiencies with five attacking players and only Bradley anchoring the middle. And it was Pulisic's ankle-breaking drive that created space down the left wing before his cross hit Altidore for a ruthlessly efficient finish and a 2-0 lead.
