Resurgent US face Panama test in CONCACAF qualifiers
LOS ANGELES: ArevitalisedUnited States face Panama on Tuesday brimming with confidence after a record World Cup qualifying victory inspired by teenage star Christian Pulisic and veteran forward Clint Dempsey.
The pall of gloom enveloping the US national team following defeats against Mexico and Costa Rica in November was blown away on Friday, with Pulisic and Dempsey helping to deliver a 6- 0 thrashing of Honduras.
The win was the biggest ever recorded by a US team in the fi nal round of World Cup qualifiers in the CONCACAF zone, which comprises teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
But it was the manner, rather than the scale, of the victory that has reignited confidence in America’s bid to qualify for an eighth consecutive appearance at the World Cup finals.
Though it was the 34-year- old Dempsey who took the man- of-thematch award with a hat- trick on his first return to national team duty since recovering from an irregular heartbeat, Pulisic was unquestionably the most influential US player.
The Borussia Dortmund prodigy, still only 18, scored one goal and set up three others in a display that suggests US soccer has finally unearthed the sort of authentic attacking talent American fans have craved for years.
“He’s a great player. He can beat people one- on- one and he creates mismatches because of that,” Dempsey said of his young strike partner.
“It’s great to have players like that, who can win those one-on-one contests because it breaks teams open.”
Against Honduras, Pulisic thrived in the No.10 role, buzzing around menacingly in the space created by the forward partnership of Dempsey and Jozy Altidore.
US coach Bruce Arena said he had no hesitation in making Pulisic the fulcrum of the US attack after watching him play in a similar position for Bundesl iga side Dortmund this season.
“He’s been exceptional the last couple of months with his club team, it’s clearly a position he’s played a lot and I felt it was the right decision to make,” Arena said, enthusing about Pulisic’s range of talents.
“He’s just a natural, the game’s easy for him,” Arena said.
Friday’s victory lifted the United States off the bottom of the sixteam round-robin fi nal qualifying competition into fourth place.
The top three finishers qualify automatically for next year’s finals in Russia while the fourth-placed team faces an inter-confederation playoff against an Asian side. — AFP