After a break of nearly three months, USMNT fans finally got to see their national side take the field at home since March’s WC Qualifiers as they hosted Morocco in a friendly at the TQL Stadium in Cincinnati.
Many homegrown talents who have now become regular faces in Europe’s top leagues such as Weston McKennie, Timothy Weah and Christian Pulisic featured against Morocco on Wednesday.
Both Weah and Pulisic started the match and made a significant impact which saw the USA take a 2-0 lead at half-time.
While Weah managed to score an excellent long-range rocket to make it 2-0, the highlight of the first half belonged to Pulisic, whose sensational footwork set up Brenden Aaronson to score the opening goal.
The Chelsea forward did brilliantly to latch onto a rather hopeful long ball over the top of the Moroccan defence which Pulisic brought down with the deftest of touches.
Using his quick feet, Pulisic then beat two defenders and draw the keeper out to set up Aaronson who simply had to roll the ball into the back of an empty net.
The almost Zidanesque touch that created the chance out of nothing for USMNT was praised heavily by fans inside the stadium as well as on Twitter.
In the ESPN footage of the build-up to the goal, Pulisic can be seen searching for the ball with his back to it and with exceptional coordination the American brought it down just outside the Moroccan penalty box.
More than just the visual appeal of having brought down such a difficult pass, the fact that Pulisic was able to convert the chance into a goal successfully too was appreciated by football fans.
That first touch by Christian Pulisic should be in a museum.
World class over the shoulder touch from Pulisic. I mean absolutely absurd. Running at full speed, breaking his neck to see the ball, and cushion it like THAT?! WOW.#USMNT
First touch and great awareness…. Just what Chelsea fans cry for, but they have it in Pulisic. Do they care? No, because he is in “winger comp” with their boyhood crush!
With the Chelsea man capable of creating such decisive moments with his bag of tricks, US fans would be hoping that Pulisic leads them from the front at the World Cup in Qatar where they have been placed in the same group as England.
