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USA vs Netherlands live: World Cup match updates
Clive Brunskill
December 3, 2022, 7:59 a.m. ET


December 3, 2022, 7:59 am ETCody Gakpo of the Netherlands. Credit… Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

In their biggest game since taking on Iran four days ago, the Americans draw a team with a stingy defence, a possession-hogging midfield and forwards who struggle to convert scoring chances. No, they are not practicing against themselves.

Think of the Dutch as a more experienced and, perhaps, more talented version of the United States, although in Qatar they have conspicuously lacked the panache, elegant, edgy style that defines their national team as much as their uniforms. oranges.
Struggling up in Group A, the Dutch looked vulnerable, but don’t mistake that for diminished or unimpressive. Virgil van Dijk is still one of the best centre-backs in the world, and Frenkie de Jong is still one of the best midfielders in the world, and soon Cody Gakpo, who has scored three goals in this tournament, could be one of the best forwards in the world. . world, too.
Call it a hunch, but the Americans are not intimidated by any of this: the Dutch, the pressure, the atmosphere. One of the youngest teams in the World Cup, the United States emerged from a group loaded with landmines and allowed just one goal, from a penalty.
Needing a win in a match fraught with geopolitical ramifications, the Americans won that too, with a goal leaving Christian Pulisic, after colliding with the Iranian goalkeeper, writhing through an injury later described, in somewhat euphemistic nomenclature, as as “pelvic”. contusion.”
Christian Pulisic training with Team USA on Friday. Credit… Christopher Lee/Getty Images
Against the Netherlands, Pulisic’s condition, umm, the Netherlands will dictate how well he can spin, run and feint, which we hear are pretty critical actions for a soccer player. However, he is complemented by one of Qatar’s most fearsome midfields. Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams and Yunus Musah all played huge roles in neutralizing England and driving the game forward in all three matches. It is still unclear how, if anything, Gio Reyna, perhaps the most creative player for the Americans up front, will take on the Dutch.
For this generation of Americans, after enduring the indignity of failing to qualify in 2018, Qatar was projected as a springboard to 2026, when the United States is expected to truly shine in organized competition on its soil. Four years earlier, they are equipped to reach what would be only their second quarter-final.
All they have to do is beat themselves.
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