Christian Pulisic dampened the USMNT’s celebrations on Thursday after scoring in a tightly contested 3-0 win over Mexico. It was only a semifinal, so shirtless Pulisic spoke.
“Be gentle with it, guys,” Pulisic interjected. “Enjoy it tonight, enjoy it tonight, but we’re here to win the final. We’re here to beat Canada.”
That’s what they did on Sunday night in a 2-0 win Others Regional rivals, 2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals. On Thursday, they issued a “f***ing statement”. Pulisic had requested. On Sunday, they won the Cup — and prevented Canada from earning its first in more than two decades.
The USMNT played short-handed without Weston McKenney and Sergino Test, who were suspended after a red card against Mexico. Canada was confident after defeating and drawing the USA in World Cup qualifying to top the CONCACAF table. But in the end, CONCACAF’s reigning kings USMNT bounced back in the series thanks to first-half goals from Chris Richards and newcomer Fowler Balogun.
Here’s how the matchup between the USMNT and Canada unfolded:
USMNT-Canada live updates, highlights, analysis
