Martin Rogers
FOX Sports Insider
DOHA, Qatar – Christian Pulisic scored the goal that beat Iran 1-0 to send the United States into the knockout stages of the World Cup on Tuesday night, and that’s really all anyone needs to know .
Because that was it, an all-or-nothing game, when winning was everything and anything else was failure. Pulisic, the superstar figure in this young American team, saw this equation, liked it, and decided to go with the “winning” option.
He paid a price for that too. All of Gregg Berhalter’s Americans showed heroic spirit and fierce determination at the Al Thumama Stadium, but Pulisic put his body on the line in the most diabolical fashion to get the game’s only goal.
In the 38th minute, near the end of a first half that had generated nothing but frustration at Iran’s ill-advised dedication to full defence, Weston McKennie got the ball in midfield and saw right-back Sergiño Dest moving quickly down the side. McKennie’s floater was met across goal by Dest, and Pulisic won the race on foot to head home from a few yards.
Then… crunch. The 24-year-old American, already a Champions League winner with Chelsea and seemingly destined for the top since first breaking into the national team as a teenager, collided heavily with Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand and remained on the lawn for several minutes. .
American Christian Pulisic scores a goal against Iran in the 38th minute
He battled on until half-time, but did not come on again after the break, replaced by Brenden Aaronson. He was taken to a hospital with an abdominal injury for scans. He had done enough, if you consider scoring the most immediate goal by an American man in 12 years to be “enough.”
The U.S. then heads into a Round of 16 showdown with the Netherlands on Saturday, a matchup in which they will be at a considerable disadvantage. Don’t write them off, though, and don’t underestimate the emotional boost that comes from this, a win in a game that has become fraught with political overtones in recent days.
Just before the break they could have put the game beyond Iran’s reach on a couple of breakaways, one where Josh Sargent and Timothy Weah failed to connect and another where Weah put the ball into the net, but it was declared offside.
Suddenly, however, the task had changed, for both teams. Iran could no longer sit back and press men forward as they searched for the equalizer needed to put their country into the knockout rounds for the first time in history.
In the 52nd minute, Saman Ghoddos had a header from six yards, but he headed it over the crossbar, under pressure from Dest on the shoulder.
Perhaps seeing the folly of Iran head coach Carlos Queiroz’s ultra-cautious tactics, the Americans were not on top, despite Iran’s proven effectiveness on the break with speedy forwards Mehdi Taremi and Sardar Azmoun ready to launch.
It was a different Iran now, there were no longer 10 players behind the ball as a defensive wall. Throw-ins and free throws shouldn’t take forever anymore.
There were also new priorities for the Americans. Berhalter sprung a surprise when his squad was announced, fielding defender Cameron Carter-Vickers for his first action of the tournament and relegating Walker Zimmerman to the bench. Not, presumably, because of any defensive shortcomings, as Zimmerman had been excellent alongside Tim Ream in the 0-0 draw against England, but because of the potential threat of set pieces.
Now Carter-Vickers had to play their part to survive the attack, getting Mehdi Taremi to get through on goal.
Iran, however, were creating opportunities. Ghoddos, lively in midfield, received the ball unmarked in the box but curled his shot just over Matt Turner’s crossbar.
Turner, barely required in the first half as possession fell almost exclusively to the Americans, kept getting busier. Earlier, emotion etched on his face as he sang the pre-match anthem, he rubbed the flag across his chest.
Later, his face contorted again, this time in defiance, after Morteza Pouraliganji had headed home a free-kick that went wide of the goal.
This, the nerve-wracking final moments, was the part American fans weren’t prepared for. With so much talk about the need to score goals in the build-up, one part was lost, the need to avoid them.
Deandre Yedlin and Josh Sargent hug Iran’s Saeid Ezatolahi after the match. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
Now, that was paramount. The ever-calm Turner was imposing in the box, one of his best moments being the unflinching way he got a pass, despite knowing Taremi would take a boot to his wrist.
No pain, no gain. Same for him. Same for Pulisic. The price of winning. And much better than the pain of failure.
Featured between Iran and the United States
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Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. You can subscribe to the daily newsletter here.
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