On Friday the USMNT played Panama in what had been called a must win for their World Cup qualifying chances. In truth it wasn't a must win; given the softness of CONCACAF the US could still draw or even lose and there were still about 600 scenarios that would allow them to go to the World Cup. In CONCACAF if you want to go to the World Cup you basically just have to ask. Though at this point Panama might have to ask pretty insistently. Everyone knew the first 20 minutes of Friday's game in Orlando, which saw Altidore, Pulisic, and Wood start up top, would be pivotal. Would the US come out and roll over like they did against Costa Rica? Would they look tentative like against Honduras? The answer was a resounding no. In the first two minutes Pulisic did a compound (where you hit the ball on one side of the defender and run past him on the other), quickly letting everyone know who was watching that, "My name is Christian. I am here to play soccer. I don't know what...
A blog about Christian Pulisic and other Americans playing soccer in Europe.