The United States showed they could win without Christian Pulisic on Friday, beating Australia 2-0 to reach the World Cup round of 32, but coach Mauricio Pochettino is hoping his talisman will return for their next match.
The match in Seattle was one of four played on Friday. Elsewhere, 10-man Paraguay eliminated Turkey with a 1-0 victory, Morocco defeated Scotland 1-0 and Brazil blanked Haiti 3-0.
Pulisic missed the Group D clash with a calf injury sustained in the Americans’ opening win over Paraguay, leaving the co-hosts without their most influential attacking player.
They still found a way through, taking the lead in the 11th minute through a Cameron Burgess own goal before Alex Freeman headed in shortly before halftime after a VAR review overturned an initial offside decision.
“It’s always difficult because we want to have all the players,” Pochettino said. “Christian is an important player for us, but … it was impossible today for him to play. We hope that next game he will be available.”
The US moved to six points and secured their place in the knockout rounds with one group-stage match still to play.
Pochettino said Pulisic remained central to his plans but added that any successful World Cup run would require contributions from the entire squad.
“If we want to win the competition, we need the whole team,” he said. “All the players need to be important.”
Turkey eliminated
The US will close out Group D against Turkey on Thursday at Los Angeles Stadium. Turkey is already out of the picture, after losing 1-0 to ten-man Paraguay in Santa Clara, California.
Fired up after their humiliating 4-1 opening match defeat by the United States, Paraguay went ahead 64 seconds into the match when Matias Galarza rifled in a long-range shot, then clung on for the entire game against a tide of Turkish attacks.
Spurred on to the sound of beating drums in the San Francisco Bay area, Paraguay defended resolutely to withstand the Turkish onslaught and played the second half with 10 men, after Miguel Almiron was sent off for remarks made to Mert Muldur with his hand covering his mouth.
Turkey dominated the match, with 79% possession at one point but they paid the heaviest of prices for their atrocious finishing, logging 32 attempts but no goals in almost a carbon copy of their high-shooting opening match loss to Australia.
Paraguay, known as “La Albirroja”, last played in the World Cup in 2010, where they were eliminated by eventual champions Spain in the quarter-final.
Morocco subdue Scots
Morocco outmuscled Scotland for a 1-0 win, moving into second spot in Group C, behind Brazil on goal difference, with one match left to play.
The North Africans, surprise semi-finalists four years ago, were in control throughout despite the deceptive scoreline, after Ismael Saibari struck just 71 seconds into the match in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Morocco, who did not translate their dominance into more goals, now have four points from their two matches and will next play Haiti on Wednesday.
Scotland, with three points from two games, face five-time champions Brazil on the last matchday.
“We would have liked to score that second goal to be more at ease, but we wanted to keep them really, really high up so they wouldn’t get too close to our box,” said Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi.
Scotland tried to pile on the pressure late in the game but despite some late chances, could not find an equaliser.
“Had we played another five minutes, we might just have had them,” said Scotland midfielder Ryan Christie.
“It’s frustrating. The start to the game wasn’t exactly how we planned it. But we limited them to very little second half and started to play our football. It just wasn’t to be,” he said.
Brazil cruise
In Philadelphia, Brazil forward Matheus Cunha rewarded manager Carlo Ancelotti’s backing with his first two goals at a World Cup as the five-times champions cruised to a 3-0 victory over Haiti on Friday to eliminate their opponents.
Vinicius Junior also scored in the first half and was the creator for both of Cunha’s strikes before an apparent leg injury forced winger Raphinha off in the 40th minute.
Overall, it was a much-improved effort from the Selecao’s 1-1 draw against Morocco to open their tournament and a result that puts Brazil on four points above the Atlas Lions in Group C on goal difference.
“It was what I expected from this match to have a better quality of this match,” Ancelotti said. “Fewer mistakes. More effectiveness at the forward (positions) and more control at the back. And I think this was a good match.”
Haiti became the first team at the World Cup out of contention for the knockout phase after Morocco’s 1-0 win over Scotland, who have three points, earlier on Friday. Haiti are bottom with no points.
Even so, they clearly enjoyed their second appearance at the finals and first since 1974 and, despite a lineup that suggested a low block, showed admirable endeavour in front of a vocal red-and-blue-clad minority.
“They showed that they deserved to be here at this World Cup,” Haiti manager Sebastian Migne said of his players. “And unfortunately, we played against Brazil, and there was too much of a gap.”
