{"id":1496,"date":"2026-06-20T04:12:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T04:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=1496"},"modified":"2026-06-20T04:12:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T04:12:24","slug":"the-u-s-was-missing-its-world-cup-star-it-didnt-miss-a-beat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=1496","title":{"rendered":"The U.S. was missing its World Cup star. It didn\u2019t miss a beat."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Missing its playmaking star, and facing an Australian team that had frustrated it only seven months earlier, the U.S. had all the elements for a World Cup letdown Friday.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump endorses a second candidate in the South Carolina governor\u2019s race<\/a><\/p>\n

Instead, the U.S. won again, made more history (again) and became among the first teams to secure its place in the tournament\u2019s knockout stage.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

No Christian Pulisic? No problem \u2014 for now.<\/p>\n

With Pulisic sidelined by a calf injury, Folarin Balogun replaced his role as a playmaker by running up the pitch\u2019s left side and creating havoc for Australia and chances for his teammates. The 2-0 victory marks the first time the U.S. men have won successive World Cup games since 1930. <\/p>\n

The result left the U.S. scoreboard-watching as the team flew from Seattle back to its home base in Southern California: A win or draw by Paraguay against Turkey late Friday would ensure the U.S. would win its group, with one group-stage game against Turkey still to play next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re delighted,\u201d Balogun said.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

For a second straight game, the U.S. won because of things it has lacked in previous World Cup runs, and even during the 20 previous months that coach Mauricio Pochettino spent as U.S. coach: confidence and tactics.<\/p>\n

After a dominating, 4-1 U.S. win over Paraguay to open the tournament last week, Paraguayan coach Gustavo Alfaro described a pentagon-shaped formation that U.S. players had regularly created in the midfield, a shape that gave the U.S. a level of tactical \u201ccomplexity\u201d that allowed it to counter any move Paraguay made, Alfaro said.<\/p>\n

One week later in Seattle, Pochettino\u2019s game plan set out to create triangles. With Pulisic unavailable, Pochettino started two strikers up front in Balogun and Ricardo Pepi. Pepi, Antonee Robinson and Malik Tillman formed a triangle on one side of the field, with Balogun, Weston McKennie and Sergi\u00f1o Dest aligned on the other side. The U.S. wanted to use it to move the ball quickly from one side of the field to the other, Pochettino said, \u201cbut feeling free to change, to move, to create all the dynamics … I think that approach worked really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n