Clint Dempsey scored a hat trick, Christian Pulisic thrived within the heart of the assault, and the U.S. males’s nationwide staff gained a sport it wanted to win in entrance of 17,729 spirited followers at Avaya Stadium.
BY
John Godfrey
Posted
March 24, 2017
7:55 PM
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SAN JOSE, Calif.—Enjoying with a way of urgency—and maybe a contact of desperation—the U.S. males’s nationwide staff crushed Honduras Friday night time at Avaya Stadium, registering first-half objectives from Sebastian Lletget, Michael Bradley, and Clint Dempsey en path to a 6-0 win.
Give head coach Bruce Enviornment credit score: He made some daring personnel choices, and so they paid off.
With a number of of his finest gamers—together with Fabian Johnson, Bobby Wooden, Jermaine Jones, and Timothy Chandler—unavailable, the second-time U.S. nationwide staff boss did not maintain again by way of his Beginning XI.
Sure, Pulisic bought the beginning—however Enviornment doubled down on his younger star and positioned him within the pivotal No. 10 function, smack dab in the midst of the motion. Lletget additionally made the beginning lineup, as did left again Jorge Villafana. It was simply the third U.S. look for each gamers.
The coach surrounded these relative newcomers with veterans: Tim Howard began in aim; Omar Gonzalez and John Brooks shared central protection tasks; Dempsey and Jozy Altidore partnered up prime; and Bradley settled into the No. 6 function carrying the captain’s armband.
Simply 5 minutes into the match, the newbies mixed on a aim that simply may need altered the trajectory of the staff’s World Cup hopes. Altidore initiated the play when he trapped a deflected ball and handed to Pulisic on the left flank. The Borussia Dortmund teenager promptly whipped a left-footed shot on aim and Honduras keeper Donis Escober did properly to parry the shot. However Lletget pounced on the rebound, slamming the ball into the again of the web and placing the U.S. forward 1-0.
A couple of minutes later Lletget was a part of an one other promising sequence, as he raced down the suitable sideline with loads of open house in entrance of him. Honduran defender Ever Alvarado went in arduous on the Los Angeles Galaxy attacker, incomes a yellow card, and sending the goalscorer to the sidelines a couple of minutes later with an ankle harm.
Alejandro Bedoya changed Lletget and the sport continued a lot because it had earlier than. Honduras noticed loads of the ball, however the People absorbed the stress and ultimately regained possession earlier than the guests might threaten Howard’s aim.
And the U.S. was stellar within the assault all night time lengthy.
Within the twenty seventh minute, the Yanks doubled their lead. All of it appeared very innocuous as Bradley dribbled alongside the highest of the penalty space, however the Honduran gave the U.S. captain a bit an excessive amount of house and he lifted a considerably tame left-footed shot that appeared to shock all people—Escober most of all—because it bounced contained in the far submit. United States 2, Honduras 0.
5 minutes after that, Pulisic and Dempsey mixed fantastically and put the sport away.
Pulisic was plucky on the play, lifting a cross to Dempsey that regarded like a softball pitch. The Seattle Sounder shouldered the ball to the bottom on the prime of the penalty space, held off a Honduran defender who was draped throughout him, and blasted a shot into the highest nook of the aim as he slid to the bottom.
It was the kind of aim that made Dempsey a hero at Fulham, and it validated Enviornment’s resolution to begin the 34-year-old who continues to be recovering from an irregular heartbeat.
Honduran may need phoned it in from that time on, however didn’t. The truth is, the guests redoubled their efforts, concentrating on Cameron’s facet of the sector and almost scoring twice within the dying minutes of the primary half. The Stoke Metropolis midfielder appeared off-balance in his proper fullback function, however the U.S. protection held on to its three-goal lead as the primary half ended.
Lower than two minutes into the second interval, the Yanks scored once more. Altidore—an underrated passer—unlocked Pulisic once more, solely this time the 18-year-old succeeded in his try on aim, slipping the ball simply contained in the close to submit.
The rout was on.
Earlier than many followers had returned to their seats from halftime, the Yanks scored once more. Pulisic feathered one other attractive cross to Dempsey, who danced across the a charging—and completely besieged Escober—to make the rating 5-0.
Whereas the sport was formally a laugher, the scoreline was no laughing matter. Objective differential counts in World Cup qualifying, and given america’ 4-0 loss to Costa Rica in November, the Yanks saved their foot on the gasoline and regarded for extra objectives.
Within the 54th minute, Dempsey made it 6-0—and earned a hat trick within the course of—on a 30-yard free kick that soared over Escober after which dipped beneath the crossbar.
The one draw back for the People concerned accidents. Lletget was a sparkplug early within the contest and it stays to be seen if he’ll get well in time for the Panama match on Tuesday. John Brooks additionally took a knock and needed to be carried off the sector within the seventieth minute.
If the U.S. can overcome these accidents and placed on a equally impressed show in 4 days time, Bruce Enviornment might be properly on his method towards attaining his one aim: getting the U.S. to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
John Godfrey is the founder and editor in chief of American Soccer Now.
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