Trinidad and Tobago travel to Jacksonville on Tuesday night to take on the United States in the final match of the fourth round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. A loss and favorable goal differential relative to Guatemala (who have to win to contest the U.S. for a spot in the Hex) will also be enough for the US. Four minutes later and it was 3-0.
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It went back and forth between both teams as they each had chances to open the scoring.
It wasn’t particularly special: Pulisic dribbled in to a unsafe space at the edge of the box, looked around, sized up the situation, and blasted a right-footed shot toward goal. Paul Arriola finished off Pulisic’s shot that keeper Marvin Phillip slapped away.
Pulisic, who was lighting social media up all night long, suffered from an incredible lack of luck when he rang a shot off both posts in the 30th minute with the match still scoreless. After Fabian Johnson found Altidore’s feet at the top of the penalty area, the 27-year-old used a deft touch to sidestep a Trinidad & Tobago defender and unleashed a clinical right-footed finish. Bobby Wood laid out to try to tap it home but the ball was beyond his reach. The shot beat the keeper but smacked the post, pinged across goal, hit the other post, rebounded back and out!
He’s not a finished product by any means, but Pulisic’s soccer IQ, burst with the ball and smooth technical ability make him the most exciting usa prospect since Landon Donovan.
That leaves Pulisic as a logical starting option on Tuesday, and having his first national team start come in front of a pro-U.S. crowd eager to see him play, and against an opponent expected to field a young team after having already qualified for the Hex, makes plenty of sense. Tim Howard gets a game, and will be joined in defense by Steve Birnbaum and Omar Gonzalez.
Nevertheless, the German World Cup-winner is delighted that Pulisic is amongst a new generation of young players who are now vying for places. Alejandro Bedoya ran hard but never seemed to put the ball into risky spots. He played in teammates for shots and sent in unsafe crosses, ably supported by the work of Altidore up top and Kljestan in midfield.
Faced with a tough and physical backline, the youngster showed fearlessness in his forward runs and insight in his passes and helped Klinsmann’s men take complete control.
It was a great chance that was completely wasted by an impatient striker.
The American almost grabbed a second assist as he carved the opposing defence in half setting Altidore through – but the former Sunderland striker put too much on his chip. “It was good. Guys were moving and creating space and being crafty”.
The two-goal cushion changed everything. And sure, enough, Pulisic had more in store for the Caribbeans.
So is he. Tuesday’s two goals give Altidore six goals in six appearances for the USMNT this year.
In the 71st minute, Paul Arriola scored his second goal in two US appearances, finishing a rebound on a sequence that began with a Pulisic takeaway and concluded after Pulisics point-blank shot was saved.
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The United States begins play in the Hexagonal on November 11 when they host CONCACAF rivals Mexico.
