But will Christian Pulisic be ready to play?
Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I don’t know how many more close USMNT games I can handle.
In today’s SI:AM:
🇺🇸 The U.S. fights to see another day
🗳️ Bill Bradley on Herschel Walker
🏈 The second-to-last CFP rankings
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Another nail-biter
By the thinnest of margins, the U.S. men’s national team is through to the knockout stage of the World Cup. The Americans needed a win over Iran yesterday in Qatar to advance to the round of 16, and they got it, 1–0. That sets up a meeting Saturday with the Netherlands.
The win didn’t come easy. Iran could have advanced with a draw and spent the entire second half desperately pushing to score an equalizer. But the U.S.’s defense held on to secure the win.
But the big story of the game is the one U.S. goal and the price the team may have paid to score it. In the 38th minute, Weston McKennie played Sergiño Dest in behind the Iranian defense with a lobbed pass. Dest headed the ball in front of goal where Christian Pulisic was charging forward. He met the pass with his right foot and put it into the back of the net.
Immediately after kicking the ball, though, Pulisic collided with Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand and remained on the ground for several minutes. (From the replays, it sure looked like Pulisic got hit in the crotch by Beiranvand’s knee.) He was able to return to the field briefly at the end of the first half but was subbed off at halftime with what the team called an abdominal injury. The team later announced Pulisic was diagnosed with a “pelvic contusion” and is considered day-to-day.
Pulisic’s status will be something to watch ahead of Saturday’s match against the Netherlands. While the U.S. has other capable attacking players who could fill in for him—like Brenden Aaronson, who replaced Pulisic at halftime, and Gio Reyna, who saw only limited action against England—neither has the proven big-match track record that Pulisic has. And because the team has struggled to score goals in Qatar, any drop in offensive firepower hurts. Pulisic, though, sounds optimistic he’ll be on the field Saturday.
“Obviously we have 26 players here on the roster, and every single player is willing to lay their body on the line to make sure this team’s successful,” McKennie said. “I sent him a text and checked on him, and he said, ‘Best believe I’ll be ready on Saturday.’”
The Netherlands will pose a serious challenge for the U.S. in the elimination game. The Dutch are currently ranked No. 8 in FIFA’s rankings, while the U.S. is No. 16. Winning just one game and scoring just two goals in the group stage might seem a bit underwhelming for the U.S., but the team has played better than the results might indicate. Through three games, this young team has proven it’s willing to do the dirty work and grind through games.
“It’s the first time in 92 years that we’ve had two shutouts at a World Cup,” coach Gregg Berhalter said. “So, the boys are doing something right.”
Brian Straus wrote about how the players repeatedly referenced “suffering” through yesterday’s game. And in a knockout match against a stronger opponent such as the Dutch, they’ll have to do it again.
The best of Sports Illustrated
As Herschel Walker’s runoff election in Georgia against Raphael Warnock draws closer, Michael Rosenberg spoke with another athlete turned senator for today’s Daily Cover—Bill Bradley:
“I don’t begrudge anybody using their fame to run for office, whether you’re Ronald Reagan or Jack Kemp or me,” Bradley says, referring to the 40th U.S. president, a former actor, and the Bills star who later served in Congress and was Bob Dole’s running mate in 1996.
Richard Johnson breaks down the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings. … Here are NBA draft expert Jeremy Woo’s notes from a busy weekend scouting players on the West Coast. … The Chiefs are still No. 1 in Conor Orr’s NFL power rankings. … Here are the odds and matchups for SI Sportsbook’s Perfect 10 contest in Week 13 of the NFL season.
Around the sports world
Several of the women who sued Deshaun Watson reportedly plan to be in the stands in Houston when he makes his return to the field Sunday. … UAB is targeting Trent Dilfer as its next head football coach. … The man who ran on the field with a pride flag during a World Cup game Monday was released without being charged. … Tiger Woods said peace between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf could be possible—but not with Greg Norman involved. … Aaron Rodgers says he plans to play this weekend, despite his mounting injuries.
The top five...
… things I saw last night:
5. Norman Powell trying to sell his old house in a postgame interview.
4. The final two minutes of the Warriors-Mavericks game.
3. The scene at the USMNT’s hotel as they arrived back from the stadium.
2. The frantic sequence that led to Charlotte’s game-winning buzzer beater against Davidson.
1. All 17 goals in the Kraken’s 9–8 overtime win against the Kings.
SIQ
It feels appropriate, during the World Cup, to note that today is the 150th anniversary of the first international soccer match ever played. England and Scotland met on this day in 1872 in which city?
- London
- Glasgow
- Edinburgh
- Manchester
Yesterday’s SIQ: Which team selected Russell Wilson in the fourth round of the 2010 MLB draft out of NC State?
- Rockies
- Rangers
- Yankees
- Mariners
Answer: Rockies. While he was still in college, Wilson played two seasons in Colorado’s farm system (one with the Tri-City Dust Devils and one with the Asheville Tourists). He batted .229 with five homers in 93 games.
Wilson gave up seriously pursuing a baseball career after he was taken by the Seahawks in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft, but he has made appearances in spring training. He went to Rangers camp twice in ’14 and ’15 after Texas acquired his rights and took one turn at bat for the Yankees in ’18.
Though he went on to have a great football career, Wilson actually considered focusing on baseball before he enrolled at NC State. The Orioles selected him in the 41st round of the 2007 draft, which wasn’t a reflection of his talent. He had slipped in the draft, because teams doubted they’d be able to sign him when he had a football offer from the Wolfpack. Baltimore offered him a $350,000 signing bonus—more than it offered all but two of its draft picks that year (four-time All-Star Matt Wieters and Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta). Wilson gave the offer some thought but ultimately decided to go to college.
“It was definitely a consideration,” Wilson said in 2015. “I had gotten calls in the first and second and third round, and the Orioles wanted to take me then. I contemplated it or whatever, and I just told them I wanted to play two sports. So, that was kind of my decision to go play at NC State, and obviously growing up near Baltimore, I’ve got a lot of family there in the Maryland area and D.C., as well.”
From the Vault: Nov. 30, 1981
Rich Clarkson/Sports Illustrated
In Friday’s newsletter, I featured the cover of SI’s 1991–92 college basketball preview issue, in which the magazine’s editors ranked Duke No. 1 and correctly predicted that the Blue Devils would win the national championship. This cover, from a decade earlier and featuring Duke’s most hated rival, has a similar story.
Entering the 1981–82 season, SI picked North Carolina as the No. 1 team in the country and picked the Tar Heels to win their first national championship under Dean Smith. The funny thing? Michael Jordan hardly earned a mention.
In the 387-word blurb about UNC in SI’s top 20 ranking, there’s only one sentence that mentions Jordan in passing. It’s in the fifth paragraph: “Add sophomore Swingman [Matt] Doherty and freshman Michael Jordan, another player who can do it inside or out, and these Tar Heels could be a match for the 1975-76 starting five of future NBA players [Walter] Davis, Mitch Kupchak, Tommy LaGarde, Phil Ford and John Kuester.”
Jordan averaged 13.5 points per game as a freshman that season, third on the team, as the Tar Heels won the national title.
Check out more of SI’s archives and historic images at vault.si.com.
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