His first finish, on the stroke of the hour, displayed a deftness of touch that has often been lacking from his game as he sidestepped a defender and stroked the ball across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner of the net.
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“We also talked about utilising our counter-attacks more, knowing they had to come forward … When I have the feeling to give him a go, we’ll give him a go”.
Jozy Altidore scored a brace and first-time starter Christian Pulisic was the catalyst for much of the team’s success in an impressive home victory for the Americans. Some changes will be made from the squad that beat St. Vincent & the Grenadines 6-0 on Friday, but the usa should still be good enough to get the job done against the Soca Warriors.
Seattle Sounders left back Joevin Jones started and went the full 90 for T&T.
Christian Pulisic one of the biggest stories in this match, got the starting nod from Jurgen Klinsmann to become the youngest American to start a World Cup qualifier for the United States (breaking Jozy Altidore’s record set in 2008, when he was 18 years old).
If we are lucky, both coaches will go fearless for what is effectively a warm-up for the Hexagonal, and we’ll see two of the most promising teenagers in CONCACAF go head to head: Pulisic for USMNT and Levi Garcia for T&T.
Although advancement is, for practical purposes, locked up, the Americans do have incentive. Well, finishing in first place would set up a home game against Mexico this November in the opening round of Hex games.
The framework for the six-nation final round is already is place; it’s now a matter of filling in the slots after Tuesday’s matches in the three groups.
With the point, T&T moved to 11 points and secured qualification for the final round of qualifiers.
For the first half, the Americans looked like they would do everything except score. Messi tearfully vowed after that game that he would never play again for Argentina but thankfully that was about as honest as a Ryan Lochte apology. Costa Rica is three points ahead of Panama and will host the Panamanians on Tuesday in San Jose.
With nearly an hour gone and T&T a growing threat against a back line that never looked fully secure, the U.S. scored their second when Altidore collected the ball on the edge of the box and steered a sly finish low beyond Phillip.
“I think his athletes and competitors, you enjoy playing when there’s a lot on the line”, Bradley said.
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The goals followed the U.S. Men’s National Team from their trip to St. Vincent. “Other than that, it’s my normal training schedule”, he said.
