INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Halfway through a triumphant World Cup opener on home soil, the U.S. men’s national team’s near-perfect night took an alarming twist.
Christian Pulisic was not among the 11 players who jogged onto the SoFi Stadium pitch for the start of Friday night’s second half.
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Why would U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino pull the face of American soccer after a dazzling first half in which Pulisic set up two of his team’s three goals and appeared capable of handling the pressure to deliver on a global stage? Was Pulisic hurt? Was it load management? Was it just precautionary?
“I just got a bit of a kick in the first half. I’m really hoping that it’s nothing,” Pulisic said after the U.S. team’s 4-1 victory over Paraguay. “Taking a little bit of precaution tonight but I’m hoping I’ll be fine in the next few days.”
“I’ve had similar things before. I’m staying positive. I don’t think it’s anything. “
Before exiting the USMNT’s first match of group play, Pulisic was the most dangerous component of a multi-faceted American attack. He repeatedly took on players and ran in behind the Paraguay defense, creating goal scoring opportunities aplenty.
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The opening goal of the match came in the seventh minute thanks to Pulisic’s creative brilliance on the ball. Marked by a pair of Paraguayan defenders, Captain America knifed in between them, burst into the box and slipped it to Weston McKennie in space. Damian Bobadilla then unwittingly poked McKennie’s cross past his own keeper for an own goal, exactly the sort of start the U.S. needed to ease the pressure to perform in a home World Cup.
Pulisic also set up the U.S.’s second goal in the 31st minute, driving deep into the Paraguay box and cutting it back to Flo Balogun. Balogun, completely unmarked, then side-footed the low cross past the goalkeeper and into the far side of the net.
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