The job for the United States men’s soccer team was simple, really: Win.
The stakes and the stage and the politics all piled on the intrigue going into the game against Iran on Tuesday night at the World Cup: a clash between sides whose governments have long been at odds, an Iranian team scrutinized for any hint of allegiances in the antigovernment protests rocking their nation, and a perceived insult by the U.S. Soccer Federation days before the game.
But the task, at its heart, left no room for nuance at all: If the United States wanted to keep playing in the tournament in Qatar, it had to beat Iran. And so it did.
Though the American star Christian Pulisic was forced from the game at halftime with an injury sustained as he scored the game’s only goal, the 1-0 victory was a moment of redemption for a U.S. team that has been rebuilt since a stunning failure to qualify for the last World Cup in 2018. Though a new generation of talents has been unearthed and developed, many thought the Americans’ moment was still four years away, when they would be just a little older, a little more experienced, and playing on home soil in North America.
Source: NY Times