Pulisic, who had two goals and an assist against St. Vincent and the Grenadines last week, showed pace and an ability to take on defenders down the left flank.
Advertisement
United States’ Christian Pulisic (10) tries to moves the ball around Trinidad & Tobago’s Andre Boucaud (14) during the first half of a CONCACAF World Cup qualifying soccer match, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016, in Jacksonville, Fla. Based on Pulisic’s sparkling performance in the 4-0 victory, he will be getting 90 minutes on a regular basis from now on. Trinidad and Tobago defender Radanfah Abu Bakr failed to clear it, and midfielder Khaleem Hyland fared even worse.
Morris came on in the 61st minute, after the match was well out of the Soccawarriors reach.
Presented with a loose ball on a silver platter from 12 yards, Kljestan proved flawless.
After netting two goals and an assist off the bench against St. Vincent and the Grenadines last Friday, the 17-year-old earned his first worldwide start on Tuesday, taking Altidore’s record as the youngest player to begin a World Cup qualifier for the United States. Tim Howard gets a game, and will be joined in defense by Steve Birnbaum and Omar Gonzalez.
It wasn’t a convincing strike.
Klinsmann also praised goalscorer Sacha Kljestan, who broke the deadlock shortly before half-time.
For the first half, the Americans looked like they would do everything except score.
Tuesday’s match has high stakes for the US team. Just 26, TFC’s Altidore could not play better as he created 10 opportunities from passes and shots.
It was a great chance that was completely wasted by an impatient striker. It will be challenging for Klinsmann to keep Pulisic out of the lineup moving forward.
As the top seed in Group C, the United States would play its second game on the road November 15 against the Group B victor.
Altidore made it a 2-0 match in the 59th minute after taking a feed from Fabian Johnson and a juking Mekeil Williams before sending the ball by Phillip.
The two-goal cushion changed everything. Given the fact that Trinidad and Tobago has definitely secured the next round, it is likely that the team play in the floor strength. And sure, enough, Pulisic had more in store for the Caribbeans. The Seattle Sounders man has been in excellent form of late, and he scored both of the team’s goals to put the Soca Warriors through to the next round.
With 71 minutes gone, Pulisic nearly finished a move he started, but Phillip saved his shot and Paul Arriola, a substitute, found the net on the rebound.
Advertisement
That maturity – and an eye for goal – was evident in Pulisic s display against Trinidad, when the youngster kept probing in attack and was involved in three of the U.S. s four goals. They face the second-placed United States in Jacksonville on Tuesday in their final game of the group.
