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The United States celebrates qualifying for the World Cup too early: Pulisic denies any intention
On the night from Sunday to Monday, the United States won in droves from Panama (5-1) and can now only theoretically miss the World Cup. However, the banner with the text “qualified”, which the players then walked around with, was a bit out of place. Christian Pulisic denies the intent, laziness and/or arrogance of choice.
Pulisic was the top man for Team USA in the World Cup qualifier against Panama, by scoring a hat-trick. After the final whistle, the players were handed a banner that read “Qualified”. Officially, however, the United States is not yet sure about participating in the World Cup in Qatar. Costa Rica can still push the team into the playoffs, but will have to beat the favorites by more than five goals in the final round of the qualifying round.
A completely unrealistic scenario, and no one relies on it. However, the banner and celebration of unearned qualifications were somewhat inappropriate. Pulisic thought so, who emphasized that this initiative did not come from the group of players. “The boys didn’t even know what he said. They put the banner in their hands,” the Chelsea striker said. “There was no reason to show that text, because we still have work to do.”
Team USA has revealed a ‘qualified’ banner despite needing another result against Costa Rica to officially reach the World Cup 👀🏆 pic.twitter.com/p5ZtEXF95Z
– Lysol (@Bra_Lesole) March 28, 2022
“We are getting closer to the next match with each match,” Pulisic added. “We will prepare as much as we need for another win.” This is not the case: Even with the 5-0 loss against Costa Rica, Team USA would still qualify for the World Cup. It is already joked in the US that Greg Berhalter’s team shouldn’t attend. The US will then suffer a 3-0 organizational defeat and go to Qatar.
Berhalter shouldn’t know anything about these kinds of jokes. Despite his more generous starting position, the national coach has remained very serious. “We have taken a big step towards our goal of going to the World Cup, but we know we are not there yet,” he claimed. “We still have a game to play and this is a tough game.”
The World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica will be played from Wednesday evening to Thursday.
