USA's
teammates
celebrate
at the
end of
the
Qatar
2022
World
Cup
Group B
soccer
match
between
Iran and
USA at
the
Al-Thumama
Stadium
in Doha
on
November
29,
2022.
(Fabrice
Coffrini/AFP) |
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The
United
States
has
advanced
to the
next
stage of
the FIFA
World
Cup
after
securing
the win
against
Iran on
Tuesday.
PHOTO:
DEAN
MOUHTAROPOULOS/GETTY |
|
USMNT
advances
to World
Cup
knockout
rounds
as
Christian
Pulisic
goal
secures
win vs.
Iran
USATODAY.com
DOHA,
Qatar
— Now
the
knockout
rounds
start
for real
for the
U.S.
men.
Needing
a
victory
over
Iran to
advance
out of
the
group
stage,
the
USMNT
got a
goal in
the 38th
minute
and hung
on from
there,
surviving
several
late
challenges
from
Iran to
get a
1-0
victory
Tuesday
night. As
the
second-place
finisher
in Group
B, they
will
play the
Netherlands,
the
Group A
winner,
on
Saturday.
The
Americans
dominated
the
Iranians
for much
of the
first
half,
their
youth
more
than
outweighing
their
inexperience.
They
were
able to
get to
balls
and
close
down
spaces
quickly,
and
Sergino
Dest and
Tim Weah
repeatedly
tested
Iran’s
defense,
which
could do
little
but
bunker
down and
block
the last
U.S.
pass.
But
after
failing
to
finish
in their
first
two
games,
Pulisic
and the
Americans
weren’t
going to
be
denied
again.
In
the
38th,
Weston
McKennie
chipped
a long
ball to
Dest,
who
headed
it
across
the goal
where a
streaking
Pulisic
found
it. He
knocked
it in
from
close
range
with his
right
foot,
setting
off
pandemonium
among
U.S.
fans and
the
USMNT
bench.
The
jubilation
briefly
turned
to
concern,
however,
as
Pulisic
went
down in
a hard
collision
with
Iran
goalkeeper
Alireza
Beiranvand.
Pulisic
appeared
to have
taken a
knee to
his
midsection,
and he
was down
for
several
minutes.
U.S.
coach
Gregg
Berhalter
waved
off a
sub as
Pulisic
gingerly
jogged
along
the
sideline.
After
grabbing
a sip of
water,
he went
back in
the
game.
The
USMNT
nearly
doubled
the lead
in
stoppage
time,
when
McKennie
served
up
another
gorgeous
ball
that
Weah
banked
off the
far
post.
But Weah
was
offside
by
inches,
and the
USMNT
had to
settle
for the
1-0
lead.
Iran
had
scored
three of
its four
goals
after
the 90th
minute,
and they
gave
Matt
Turner
and the
Americans
everything
they had
in the
final
minutes
of this
one. The
most
dangerous
came in
the
final
minute,
when
Iran
called
for a
penalty
on
Cameron
Carter-Vickers
for
holding
in the
box.
Turner
had come
off his
line,
but
Walker
Zimmerman
slid to
clear
the ball
and the
USMNT
escaped.
When
the
final
whistle
sounded,
the
Americans
stood
there,
gassed.
Several
Iranians
dropped
to the
ground
while
others
stood
with
their
hands on
their
hips.
Despite
their
youth —
even
with
35-year-old
Tim Ream
and
33-year-old
Sean
Johnson,
the
USMNT
has an
average
age of
25 years
and 216
days —
and
inexperience
—
DeAndre
Yedlin
was the
only
player
on the
26-man
roster
to have
played
in a
World
Cup
before –
this
group is
determined
to
change
how the
world
views
American
soccer.
They
have
impressive
individual
credentials,
with 17
of the
26
playing
in
Europe
this
season
and five
competing
in the
Champions
League,
but they
need to
make
strides
as a
national
team.
The
Americans
won high
praise
for
their
performance
against
England,
in
particular,
and Iran
coach
Carlos
Queiroz
had
called
them the
most
consistent
team in
the
group.
“(They’re)
probably
even the
team
that
made the
best two
performances
in the
tournament
in our
group,”
he said.
But
none of
that
would
have
mattered
had the
Americans
not
reached
the
knockout
rounds.
“Our
goal is
obviously
to win
the
World
Cup. In
order to
do that,
we have
to get
to the
knockout
stages,”
Walker
Zimmerman
said
before
the Iran
game.
Because
of draws
in their
first
two
games,
against
Wales
and
England,
the
USMNT’s
only
path out
of the
group
was to
beat
Iran.
And to
beat
Iran,
they had
to score
goals,
something
they
struggled
with in
their
first
two
games in
Qatar.
The
Americans
had
created
multiple
chances
against
both
Wales
and
England
but
couldn’t
finish
them.
Rather
than
causing
concern,
McKennie
said it
was a
sign the
USMNT
was on
the
right
track.
“If
you
create
100
chances,
at least
one of
them’s
gonna go
in
eventually,”
McKennie
said
after
the
England
game.
“So the
most
important
thing
was that
we
created
the
chances
and that
we can
be a
threat.
And
that’ll
just
build.”
McKennie’s
words
turned
out to
be
prophetic.
The
USMNT
didn’t
convert
all of
its
chances,
but it
got the
one it
needed.
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