The award for man of the match in a duel against the Premier League colleagues made US boy Christian Pulisic a bit proud. The Chelsea FC offensive player would have preferred three points against his colleagues from the top English league.
“We were a team that showed a lot of self-confidence. It was a real team,” said the 24-year-old after the 0-0 draw against England in Al-Khour on Friday evening – and added in typical American fashion: “We want a lot Make people proud. We still have a lot of work to do for the final game.”
Pulisic sniffed the decisive goal in front of 68,463 spectators, but his effortless powerful shot hit the crossbar of the English goal. “Christian did a good job,” said coach Gregg Berhalter.
The meanwhile very brisk Americans turned out to be spoilsports for the Three Lions, who have to wait for the round of 16 ticket after beating Iran 6:2. “It was a really good performance. Three points would have been nice, one puts us in a position where we can play for anything,” said American defender Tim Ream.
For the first time since beating England 1-0 at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, the USA went without a goal against a European team. And that against the highly praised EM second. “We had to work twice as hard. I’m very proud of the team,” said midfielder Yunus Musah. The captain agreed. “It’s tough to beat teams like that,” said former Leipzig player Tyler Adams. It is important to have progress in your own hands.
England top Group B by four points ahead of Iran (3), USA (2) and Wales (1). If they win the politically explosive game against Iran, the Americans would qualify for the round of 16 on Tuesday (8:00 p.m.) like they did in 2014. “This team has come a long way, today we can be proud. We have to win, but we leave with a great feeling. We are where we wanted to be,” said Pulisic.
