Revitalized USMNT reclaims World Cup qualifying momentum with two undefeated games

During the game against Panama, which ended in a 1-1 draw, Dempsey got his goal and Pulisic had another assist.

Clint Dempsey scored his fourth goal in two games to give the United States a precious point on the road as they aim to get their World Cup qualification campaign back on track under Arena following the sacking of Jurgen Klinsmann in November.

Christian Pulisic scored a goal and set up two others in the U.S.’s 6-0 victory over Honduras. Four minutes later former Philadelphia Union player Gabriel Gomez slammed home a loose ball after a long throw-in into the United States box wreaked havoc on the Yanks’ defense. With all six sides in the thick of the race after four matches each – four points separate second from sixth place – the race for the three automatic berths and the fourth-place slot (intercontinental playoff) will not become clear until the fall. The team fired then-coach Jurgen Klinsmann and replaced him with Bruce Arena in hopes that the us still had time to reach the World Cup.

“It was just a battle”. That opportunity was wasted by an overly aggressive Gonzalez, who was called for a foul before the ball arrived in the 18. Jozy Altidore was especially quiet, though Dempsey played the full 90 minutes, as he did against Honduras.

There may be a day in future when I tire of writing about what the brilliance of Christian Pulisic means for the future of the USMNT, but that sure as hell ain’t today.

Arena, who is in his second stint as US head coach, called the game against Panama a “slugfest” and said he was pleased with the point.

“The environmental conditions – the heat, the humidity, the surface of the field – combined with the physicality made it a real rough game”. Not coincidentally, the USA defense had its issues at times without him (and John Brooks, who left camp with a sickness).

More remarkable was the one-sided match featured a lineup that was patched together by US coach Bruce Arena.

El Tri won 1-0 at Trinidad and Costa Rica rallied for a 1-1 tie at Honduras. Four days later, they have four points, are up to fourth place and, while they have work to do, must be starting to feel pretty good.

“We made a lot of progress and somehow managed to get through an unusual amount of injuries and those type of things”, said Arena. Despite being marked most of the time by two Hondurans, he managed to score once, get off a shot that ended up in first US goal and made passes setting up Dempsey twice.

Conceding a goal so close to halftime didn’t sit well with Arena.

Frankly, we haven’t seen the likes of that since the Arena-coached 2002 World Cup team shocked the globe by reaching the tournament quarterfinals, and only narrowly falling to Germany. Sebastian Lletget, who scored the opener against Honduras, also missed the trip to Panama through injury. “I was expecting it, so it wasn’t too bad”, he said. “I think Panama thought there was a bullseye on his back, and they went after him from minute one all the way through”.

The second half began with more chunky play until Villafana blazed down the left wing on an overlapping run to cross for Pulisic, whose shot was forced out for a corner which led to nothing. It was a good lesson for him. Maybe [Dortmund/Germany] was exactly the flawless environment for him, you could argue that. And those goals are as crucial now as they ever have been, as he helps guide the talented younger generation of players, like Pulisic, toward what would surely be his final Fifa World Cup appearance.