In the 69th minute of last night's friendly between the U.S. Men's National Team and Bolivia, 25 year-old Darlington Nagbe laid off a perfect pass in the penalty area. 17 year-old Christian Pulisic calmly received the pass and slotted the ball into the lower corner of the Bolivian net. The goal made Pulisic the youngest American to ever score in full international play.
Pulisic was already the youngest foreign player to score a goal in the Bundesliga, and the youngest player of any nationality to score two goals in Germany's top league, where he plays for Borussia Dortmund. Nagbe led the Portland Timbers to the MLS Cup final last season, and is the kind of creative, attacking midfielder that the U.S. has been missing for several campaigns.
In that Nagbe to Pulisic goal, we saw a sign of things to come. Jurgen Klinsmann's squad still has a ton of questions in the run-up to the 2018 World Cup, but with youth comes optimism. And for a team that's lacked that promise for much of this cycle, that's one to grow on.
Driving in to Darlington Nagbe, me and Wayne on the Fourth of July.
ReplyDeleteBummer about Wayne getting pinched by the state trooper.
ReplyDeleteIn retrospect, I probably shouldn't have taught zson how to snap a wet towel.
ReplyDeleteXM plying Death Cult right now, Dave.
ReplyDeletehello, gheorgies. this post is a lie. just played some vr games on my friend's kid's headset. the future is weird, and controlled by the youth. we're all fucked.
ReplyDelete