DOHA, Qatar — Luka Lizardo couldn’t wait. It was Tuesday afternoon, only a few hours before the United States would play Iran for a spot in the World Cup’s knockout stage, and he had fallen squarely into are-we-there-yet mode. So he did what he always does. He dribbled a soccer ball, spinning and twirling and whirling, like a puppeteer who needed only feet.
When Luka grew bored of the usual routine, he made a prediction to his father, Axel. The U.S. would win, 1–0, the 8-year-old said, and Christian Pulisic would score the lone goal. His dad laughed. Luka wondered why.
And then, with little else to do as time dragged before kickoff, Luka decided to make a sign. First, he considered writing something to Pulisic. Then he reconsidered. Why? “Because I wanted to,” he says on Wednesday, sitting at a kitchen table in a hotel high above downtown. He kept an eye on the nearest television and the other on an unopened duffle bag nearby.
