USA undone by late Turkish sucker-punch but nippy Pulisic cameo maintains momentum

In the continental battle of the North American hosts, Mexico stand on top after three rounds. The question now is: who can stay in the heat of battle the longest?

It is undeniable that any World Cup is a better spectacle when a second-tier host nation comes to the party: be it Sweden in 1958, South Korea in 2002 or Russia in 2018. The beauty of this year’s tournament is that there are three and while all of them have progressed rather comfortably to the last-32 , only the Mexicans have a perfect record to their name. For the United States, this was not so much a reality check as a reminder of how quickly a contest can drift into the hands of your opponent, especially when chances are not converted at this level.

Has their momentum been stymied by a last-gasp Turkish sucker-punch? Perhaps a smidge. Yet the hard facts are that a last-32 date in Santa Clara next Wednesday, which we now know will be against Bosnia and Herzegovina, was already assured after an electrifying opening two matches. And still, a few key objectives for Mauricio Pochettino on Thursday night were executed. Emerge unscathed in the injury department? Tick. Onto the knockouts unimpacted by needless suspensions? Tick. Re-introduce star man Christian Pulisic into the World Cup fray? Tick.

Pulisic’s comeback from a 13-day absence due to a calf injury is particularly timely and significant, six days before the real business begins once more. Here, the AC Milan winger, his country’s undisputed starlet, looked lively, nippy and completely unperturbed by his near two-week lay-off. In fact, with more fortune and accuracy, he would have netted his first goal of the tournament: a shot well-saved, a ricochet that hit the post and a curling effort just wide. The US manager, and the excitable public watching on across this vast land, will hope that it will burn a fire deep within the 27-year-old as they head up the West Coast next week.

Is he fit enough to start in six days? Surely, one thinks.

Yet paradoxically after such a wretched first two games, in nicking a winner with the last kick of the game courtesy of substitute Kaan Ayhan, Turkey haven’t just shown up late to the party with three drinks in tow; the dance has been and gone and everyone has trotted off and found a cab to their next destination. They end their time in the US with a victory which will, undeniably, make them feel a sorry sense of what if. Defeats to Australia and Paraguay had already been their undoing and they will fly back to Europe out of LAX on Friday morning after another tournament of underachievement.

For a match with nothing riding on it, such is the convoluted and somewhat mystifying decision to make head-to-head the group-stage tie-breaker over goal-difference, this one started out at a rate of knots. Pochettino made nine changes to his starting XI – the fourth-most alterations from one game to another in World Cup history – yet the US started where they left off 13 days ago against Paraguay in this 70,000-seater greenhouse in Inglewood.

One of those reinforcements, Celtic defender Auston Trusty, rifled in at the back post to open the scoring, sprinting in jubilation to his bench to celebrate. At two minutes and 14 seconds, it was the second-fastest US goal in World Cup history, after Clint Dempsey‘s 30-second strike against Ghana in 2014. Yet the lead did not last long and, for a beleguered Turkey outfit, there was finally something to shout about for their midfielder wonderkid.

Tipped to be a shining light this summer, Real Madrid playmaker Arda Guler will head home with a World Cup goal to his name. Teed up in the box by striker Baris Alper Yilmaz, Guler controlled delicately with his right before smashing home with his left beyond back-up US keeper Matt Turner. For a side who held the unceremonious statistic of the most shots at this World Cup without a goal – 62, the most-ever in the first two rounds without finding the back of the net – it was a rare moment of joy.

Twenty minutes later, Guler was at the centre of Turkey’s second, slipping in Eren Elmali in the box whose cut-back found Besiktas’ Orkun Kokcu, who diverted into the corner. Coming just seconds after US centre back Mark McKenzie had a goal ruled out for offside, it was a tough pill to swallow – or at least as tough as it can be, in a dead rubber of a game.

Pochettino resisted making changes at the interval and his loyalty to his back-up troops – even if he may stray away from terms such as “second-string” – was quickly rewarded. From a set-piece, the ball broke to midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, son of former head coach Gregg, who smashed home with his right foot at the near-post.

Yet beyond a goal or the plethora of celebrities shown on the 70,000-square-foot Infinity Screen hovering above the pitch – for Leonardo DiCaprio hiding behind a Coca-Cola bottle, you also had Paris Hilton elaboratively dancing and waving – nothing could stimulate this fanbase more than the arrival of Pulisic onto the pitch.

Pochettino gave his star asset just over 30 minutes to acclimatise to proceedings and he almost made an immediate impact as he worked Turkey keeper Ugurcan Cakir before Brenden Aaronson inexplicably struck the rebound wide; a sight Leeds fans will be all too accustomed to seeing.

Minutes later, a ricochet off Pulisic hit the post before he went whiskers wide with a curling left-foot effort. Chants of “USA, USA” saw their side to the close and an all-square scoreline looked inevitable before, out of nothing, Ayhan tapped home Can Uzun‘s cross with the last kick of the game, following a delicious Guler nut-meg on, of all people, Pulisic. The licking of Turkish wounds will be made more palatable after their late flourish.

Yet for the US, despite the late blow, it should be rather simple to look ahead, as their squad and manager enter a period a decade in the making. Momentum has not veered irretrievably off course. How far can the ride take them? An expectant public waits with giddy anticipation.