Pulisic hugged his parents at the front of the stands, all three euphoric after his first international hat trick.
Out on the field, American players unfurled a red-and-blue banner with “QUALIFIED” in bold, white letters.“We know we’re not there yet, despite what that banner might have said,” U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter maintained Sunday night after a 5-1 rout of Panama.
Only a loss of six or more goals Wednesday night in the finale at Costa Rica would cause the Americans not to finish among the top three nations in North and Central America and the Caribbean and claim an automatic berth. They can finish no worse than fourth, which earns a June playoff, likely against New Zealand.
Pulisic left the stadium without speaking with reporters, and the U.S. Soccer Federation distributed anodyne quotes under his name.“I think because of the journey,” Berhalter said “You have a guy that’s been there before. He was he was on the field when we didn’t qualify. And this was us saying to him, this is a new group, this is a new team and you’re a leader.”
Pulisic’s only previous hat trick was in the Premier League for Chelsea against Burnley in October 2019. The U.S. had not scored twice on penalty kicks in one match in the modern era. Godoy scored Panama’s goal in the 86th with a header from Éric Davis’ free kick that beat Zack Steffen.
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