“We’ve got eight games to go and we’ve got to start getting points fast”. And they made things happen to the tune of six goals. From that point on, it was a boat race. In the 54th minute one such run was ended with a foul to the right of the D, which cued Dempsey to hit an audacious outswinging free kick across Escober and inside the far post for his hat-trick.
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Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic stole the show as the US downed Honduras 6-0 in what is being viewed as a pivotal game both for Pulisic and his country.
The Borussia Dortmund prodigy, still only 18, scored one goal and set up three others in a display that suggests U.S. soccer has finally unearthed the sort of authentic attacking talent American fans have craved for years. But the phenom was given the start in the center and shined.
Another astonishing display on the assist by Pusilic, who is wise enough to realize a ball on the ground won’t make it through, and skillful enough to put the pass on a platter for Dempsey, one of the best goalscorers in American soccer history.
Lletget would make way due to an ankle injury shortly after, but captain Bradley doubled the lead in the 27th minute. “I don’t think we expected to win 6-0, but I think we just overall finished awesome tonight”. Against Costa Rica, the team came out flat and things got worse as the game wore on.
But it’s also figuratively true because two losses in their first two qualifiers had dropped the injury-riddled Americans to the bottom of the six-team CONCACAF table, cost them their coach when Jurgen Klinsmann was sacked in November and left their hopes of qualifying for an eighth consecutive World Cup very much in doubt.
Really? Not even a little stunned to see a newly aggressive US team score six times on eight shots on goal?
The choice to start Clint Dempsey against Honduras was an easy one for US coach Bruce Arena. As I mentioned previously, Sebastian Lletget opened the scoring when he smashed home a 5th minute rebound.
From the national anthem to the final whistle, chants of ‘USA!’ rang throughout the stadium, giving the Americans a nice home field advantage that was rewarded with a spectacular performance.
When his team needed him the most, Clint Dempsey ran the show.
He will continue to receive criticism from sections of the fanbase, but remember that criticism is unfounded and he continues to be one of the U.S.’ most important players. “In terms of his ability to score goals and set guys up, he is a guy who has been there for us on so many big nights”.
“Christian is just a natural”, Arena said. “It’s tough, but it’s reality and we deal with it”. “That experience counts for a lot”. About a month later, Lagerwey announced Dempsey was out for the rest of the season, and Ryan Dempsey tweeted his brother was undergoing a second procedure – and asked for prayers.
Then the match started.
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Every coach is different, you know they each have their own different styles, but I think for Bruce it’s well known that he’s a player’s manager, and I think since being with him since January camp he’s let everyone know their roles individually and collectively what he expects out of everyone and he’s made it very clear so I think you’ve been able to see our roles well defined and everyone is really buying into everything for the team. They are now sitting at the bottom of the Hexagonal and will want to claim their first three points to get out of the basement.
