Dempsey, Pulisic star again as US ties 1-1 at Panama

Christian Pulisic was sent tumbling to the ground early on. The 18-year-old phenom bounced back up, and so did the United States.

Pulisic made an outstanding individual move to spin a defender and feed Clint Dempsey for his 56th international goal, and the Americans hung on for an important 1-1 draw against Panama on Tuesday night that kept up their rebound in World Cup qualifying.

Dempsey’s 39th-minute goal on a warm and humid night moved him within one of Landon Donovan’s American scoring record, but Gabriel Gomez tied the score four minutes later when the US allowed him a clear shot after a thrown-in bounced off a scrum.

Mexican referee Cesar Ramos, working in place of injured countryman Roberto Garcia, called 26 fouls, including 19 against Panama, but no yellow cards.

Already the best American player at age 18, Pulisic was one day short of the anniversary of his international debut and the focal point of opponents. He took a chip from Dempsey in the 29th minute, and Luis Tejada made a hard slide tackle that took out his legs. Pulisic went down, grabbing his left leg, and got up, irate, yelling and pointing at Tejada. The Panamanian reached out a hand only to see Pulisic turn and walk away.

After an 0-2 start led the US Soccer Federation to fire Jurgen Klinsmann and bring back Arena, the Americans have climbed to fourth in the final round of the North and Central American and Caribbean region. Mexico leads with 10 points, followed by Costa Rica with seven, Panama with five, the US and Honduras with four each, and Trinidad and Tobago with three.

El Tri won 1-0 at Trinidad and Costa Rica rallied for a 1-1 tie at Honduras. The top three nations in the hexagonal qualify for next year’s World Cup in Russia, and the No. 4 team advances to a playoff against Asia’s fifth-place nation.

The US goal came after Pulisic played the ball by Jermaine Jones and won it from Panama captain Felipe Baloy at the edge of the penalty area and broke in on goal. Pulisic stopped, stepped on the ball with his right foot as defender Roman Torres spun, played the ball from his right foot to his left and cut it back to Dempsey.

The 34-year-old returned to the national team with a hat trick Friday after missing nine months because of an irregular heartbeat, and Pulisic assisted on two of them. The pair combined again, with Dempsey scoring with a right-footed shot from 6 yards while sliding on his backside.

Bowling