The U.S.‘s Victory Over Iran Was Exciting as Hell—And Just the Beginning
In the stoppage time that would not end, with just a few minutes left to burn until the World Cup knockout rounds came into view, the U.S. Men’s National Team broke from the trenches they’d dug in their own box and sped downfield. Brenden Aaronson latched onto the ball around the halfway circle and fed Haji Wright, streaking into the left channel with an Iranian defender blocking a straight path to goal. Four minutes left. Time to take the ball to the corner flag and waste some time. But Wright kept driving into the left side of the 18-yard box and lost his footing as he dribbled a tame shot at Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, who gathered it easily and sent Iran cruising back towards the American goal.
It was a moment that threatened to vindicate so many fears about this U.S. team, the second-youngest in Qatar and the second-youngest that we've ever sent to the world’s tournament. Many of the crucial components in this mosaic of America have reached the highest levels of professional soccer in their early 20s. They are a generation unlike any that has come before. But only one of the 26 men in this squad has ever been to a World Cup before, and DeAndre Yedlin wasn’t on the field. Would their unburdened naïveté, their jubilant ignorance, prove a poor substitute for the cool-headed cynicism of experience?
A few minutes—and Iranian penalty appeals—later, they survived, The squad made it through to face the mighty Netherlands in the Round of 16, thanks to a lone goal from Christian Pulisic, who did so much to pave the way for this generation through the great club academies of Europe. It's a path that has led so many Americans to ply their trade in Europe’s top leagues. Weston McKennie of Juventus had found Sergiño Dest of A.C. Milan with a fizzing backspin ball to the back post, which Dest headed across first time for Chelsea's Pulisic to finish off. In the process, he crashed into Beiranvand and took a long time to get up. He did not return from the locker room for the second half.
The first 45—well, 50—minutes were a thrilling continuation of the American effort against England on Matchday 2, when they went toe-to-toe with the 2018 semifinalists and had the better of the game. In all three group-stage bouts, the midfield trio of McKennie, Tyler Adams, abd Yunus Musah showed themselves to be the real deal at this level. They have the physicality to compete with the world’s best, putting together some silky passing patterns as they carved Iran open again and again. Musah in particular was immense, steaming around the midfield to crunch into tackles and win back possession before orchestrating a clever passing move. He lost some of that steam in the second half, but some of his touches were on a different level, and he’s got the engine of a world-class midfielder. Today was his birthday. He turned 20.
The U.S. was a joy to watch at times, as fullbacks Dest and Antonee Robinson bombed down the sidelines, stretching Iran’s defense and allowing the wide forwards in Pulisic and Tim Weah to drift infield. There, they’d combine with the midfield three and especially with Josh Sargent, whom Coach Gregg Berhalter returned to the center forward role after picking Wright to lead the line against England. Sargent had perhaps his best game in the colors of the United States, serving as an unlikely target man who became the fulcrum of the American attack when the ball arrived at his feet or his chest. He held the ball up well and combined with the men in blue shirts who would flit in and out of his vision, all while leaving space in behind him for the wide forwards to exploit.
That structure allowed Weah to streak in behind the Iranian defense with the U.S. up 1-0 in first half added time. McKennie found him with a scything pass from the halfway line, which Weah scampered onto and poked past Beiranvand. In a flash, it nestled in the net. It was ruled out instantaneously by the “semi-autonomous” offsides system that debuted at this tournament, but the flash of a replay after was not at all conclusive. Later, we saw the virtual-reality offsides model with gray humanoid figurines that rolled out in the TV coverage of this tournament, another thoroughly unconvincing tool that suggests FIFA thought there we were all clamoring for refereeing decisions to be made in the metaverse. Just show the replay from a couple of angles, please!
The move of the match may have come just before, though, on 45 minutes, when the Americans treated us to some stunning interplay. Adams fed the ball early into Sargent, who’d taken up a position in the right channel. Weah had filled Sargent’s place at center forward, but as the latter received the ball, Weah flowed around to the outside of him and into the box just as Sargent dropped the ball into his path. Weah was in with a chance to shoot, but he chose instead to pass it flat across the box, where Sargent and Pulisic had drifted seamlessly into positions to score. The final ball lacked quality, though, and it was cut out by Iran centerback Majid Hosseini. A chance to seize control of the game squandered, and another moment in which one feared for this young team. At the highest level, if you fail to take chances you're almost always punished. But squandered or not, it was beautiful play that ought to go some way towards this team’s motto and North Star: “CHANGE THE WAY THE WORLD VIEWS AMERICAN SOCCER.”
With all his good work, it was a shame that Sargent joined Pulisic in leaving the game injured. (After the match, Fox Sports reported that Pulisic had been taken to the hospital.) Both will be questionable to play on Saturday against the Dutch, and the state of the USMNT for much of the second half ought to have demonstrated how much the team may miss them. Wright was not an encouraging replacement for Sargent, though Brenden Aaronson was a great option to take Pulisic’s place on the left. The 22-year-old from outside Philly brought all of the guile and trickery he’s showcased at Leeds United in the Premier League this season, another one with an engine to run all day and a clever mind to match it.
Aaronson is a top player, but the Americans’ second-choice options in so many other areas are not. Kellyn Acosta does not bring the same dynamism and deft touch that McKennie can call on in central midfield. Gio Reyna, one of the shining talents of this generation who seems to have found himself in the coach’s dog house, did not feature at all. Berhalter found himself throwing on defenders left and right as the U.S. gave up its territorial advantage and its domination of the ball, sitting in to defend a one-goal lead. It’s a dangerous game, but they got away with it, even as Iran's players started dropping to the turf in and around the box at every opportunity, begging the referee—or the dreaded VAR—to bail them out for a performance that ultimately lacked courage, even if they only needed a draw.
Never mind all that, though. The Americans are through. The young Americans, the New Americans, have booked themselves a date with a genuine heavyweight of the world game. The Oranje of the Netherlands are a force in this tournament, taking 7 of 9 points in Group A and conceding just one goal. The U.S. has the same defensive record, and they looked a more formidable proposition with Cameron Carter-Vickers in at centerback. He and Tim Ream were in full control for much of this match. Walker Zimmerman came on and helped to win the aerial battle in the final stages, but he was not exposed at the center of a back five the way he has been in a back four. It’s not just that Carter-Vickers has captained his Scottish club, Celtic, in Champions League matches this season against some of the world’s best. He is also an absolute unit. He’s brawny and powerful, and he has the recovery pace this team needs if the fullbacks are going to push so far forward. If you play high up the pitch, you need centerbacks who can cover a lot of ground—and shoulder people into the stands.
We’ll all have to wait and see what Berhalter decides at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Will Sargent and Pulisic make it? If they don't, who will start at center forward, and will we catch a glimpse of Reyna? Will the Americans go out there and give the big boys a game? On the day after Thanksgiving, they showed the English that they no longer sit at the kids table. Now they’ve weathered the group stage and set themselves up for the real test of the world’s best: the knockout rounds. The young Americans will look to keep Cody Gakpo out and get themselves into the last eight for the first time in 20 years. In the process, they could drag a famously recalcitrant nation into full-on football fandom.
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