WORLD CUP: United States hold off Iran to advance

DOHA, Qatar — The United States prevailed in the most emotionally charged game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup so far.

Christian Pulisic scored the decisive goal in the 38th minute, injuring himself in the process, which pushed the United States into the next round of the 32-team tournament where they will face the Netherlands.

Pulisic was able to muscle in a ball headed down to him inside the six-yard box by Sergino Dest. Pulisic ran into goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand in the process of scoring and stayed down for some time while his teammates celebrated the goal.

Pulisic was substituted a half time and eventually taken to hospital.

“He was taken to the hospital as a precaution, he was feeling some dizziness,” said United States head coach Greg Berhalter. “He got an abdominal injury. The goal was something we’ve been talking about for a while.

“We wanted to get the team to shift over to one side, as they shifted over, we knew there would be an opportunity for the weak side and Sergino timed his run really well and it was a ball over the top to the advancing fullback and then back across the middle. That was something we feel we didn’t do well enough against England and guys executed this perfectly.”

Midfielder Weston McKennie played the fantastic cross-field ball to Dest, who knocked it down into the path of Pulisic. McKennie had an outstanding first half controlling the midfield and helped create a number of chances for the United States.

The United States needed to win the game to advance after earning a point in its first two; a 1-1 tie with Wales and scoreless tie with England.

“How may goals has he (Pulisic) scored like that in his career? Back post arriving from the top of the box,” said United States midfielder Tyler Adams. “He’ll do anything to get in front of that ball. He’s a huge player for us and I’m hoping everything is OK, and hopefully, he’ll be able to play in the next game.”

Iran just needed a tie after losing its first game 6-2 to England and defeating Wales 2-0. In the other Group B game being played simultaneously at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, England defeated Wales 3-0.

The atmosphere created by the 42,127 fans in the Al Thumama Stadium was electric from the opening kickoff and the noise was deafening in the intimate venue from both sets of fans.

“It’s unfortunate to say the dream is over with this result,” said Iran head coach Carlos Queiroz. “The U.S., they started the game much better than us. They were quicker, with better control of the game, passing, moving, they created a couple of chances, and they deserved to score, no doubt about that, they deserved to score in the first half.”

After taking the lead, the United States looked to extend it, and nearly did a minute into first-half injury time as Timothy Weah was played through by McKinnie and flicked the ball into the corner of the net past Beiranvand. The goal, however, was waved off for offside as Weah started his run slightly early and was just ahead of the last defender when played though.

In the second half, without Pulisic in the lineup, Berhalter opted to play defensive and the United States sat back and tried to hit Iran with counter-attacks. They kept one lone forward up front and sat back with nine players trying to defend the lead.

“We decide to go to a 5-4-1 (formation), because of Iran loading the (front) line and putting a lot of guys in the box,” Berhalter said “Their main tactic was to put it wide and get crosses in. So we wanted to deal with that.”

The strategy made for some tense moments in the second half, as Iran just needed a goal to leap-front the United States into second place.

Second-half substitute Saman Ghoddos came close in the 65th minute, curling a shot just over the crossbar. Soon after, a diving header from defender Morteza Pouraliganji off a free kick, bounced just wide.

“In the second half, we came out strong and we started to close and stop all the movements from the U.S.,” Queiroz said. “I thought we created enough opportunities, and I thought we created more clear opportunities than the U.S. did in the first half.

“But unfortunately, football always punishes the team that doesn’t score and the team that scored in the first half and deserved to, move forward and even though we created opportunities in the second half, but we didn’t score, and we were punished with the result.”

With a number of stoppages in the half, there was nine minutes of extra time played in the second half. In the dying moments of the game, Iran felt it had a claim for a penalty when forward Mehdi Taremi believed he was pulled back by United States defender Cameron Carter-Vickers.

The contact was minimal and Spanish referee Antonio Mateu, one of the best in the world and favoured to officiate the final, waved off the Iranian appeals.

The win for the United States avenged a loss to Iran at the 1998 World Cup in France.

“I talked about 1998 and the guys not having the appropriate intensity to compete against Iran,” Berhalter said. “And today we had it. It was clear from the opening whistle that we really had it. We were really aggressive, we believed in ourselves, we believed what we were doing and battling. That was the important thing for us. You never really know how results are going to go based on performance, but the group did a really good job preparing to play.”

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