USMNTs Christian Pulisic left to rue injury heartbreak to end frustrating World Cup
SEATTLE — In the first half of the United States’ opening match against Paraguay, Christian Pulisic looked every bit like the best player on the pitch.Against Belgium on Monday night in Seattle, the weight of a nation’s expectations finally looked too heavy to bear.The U.S.
needed their star to produce another signature World Cup moment.Instead, the sellout crowd at Lumen Field watched their brightest star endure perhaps the most difficult 59 minutes of his international career before limping off the field in visible pain.From the opening whistle, Belgium looked like the better side, and their strategy of not allowing Pulisic to breathe, let alone operate in space, was executed to perfection.Every touch came with immediate pressure.
Every turn was met by a Belgium player.The Red Devils’ experienced defenders leaned on him physically, closed every passing lane and refused to let him dictate the rhythm that had made him so successful against Paraguay, Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina.For perhaps the first time all summer, Pulisic looked nervous, rushed and frankly, poor.Rather than slowing the game and waiting for teammates to make their runs, he forced passes that weren’t there.
He repeatedly tried to dribble through traffic instead of around it.By halftime, he had surrendered possession 11 times — more than any player on the field — a staggering number for the player entrusted with orchestrating nearly every meaningful American attack.It wasn’t for a lack of effort.
If anything, Pulisic appeared desperate to rescue the evening himself.Early in the second half, he finally found a sliver of daylight and burst toward the Belgian penalty area.It looked for an instant like the opening the U.S.
had been searching for.Then everything unraveled.Every match of the FIFA World Cup will air on either FOX or FOX Sports 1.
If you don’t have cable, you can take advantage of a DIRECTV free trial to stream it all.Prefer to check out the action live and in person...