Christian Pulisic doesn't shy away from the moments in the spotlight and that's one reason he's been able to integrate so seamlessly with veterans on the U.S. national team, according to goalkeeper Tim Howard.
Howard, 38, was speaking after Pulisic scored once and assisted on three other goals -- one to Clint Dempsey -- in a crucial 6-0 U.S. victory over Honduras on Friday night that got the Americans' World Cup qualifying campaign back on track.
The U.S. faces Panama next on Tuesday night with the chance to move further up the CONCACAF Hexagonal qualifying table if the team can get a result in Panama City.
"This is what we have come to expect from young Christian," Howard said. "He's a performer on the highest level. He doesn't shy away from big moments. The spotlight doesn't deter him and for us it's been great for a guy like him to be able to combine with Jozy [Altidore] and with Clint and to make it look fairly seamless."
And Howard admitted that the win helped ease pressure on the team and build its confidence ahead of the Panama match, where the veteran keeper thinks the U.S. has a good shot at keeping the momentum going under difficult circumstances.
"[The mood of the team] has changed because we have upped our goal differential. We were minus-five and now we are plus-one. We have three points on the board and I think those are the hardest three to get," Howard said.
"Away games in qualifying have proven to be difficult for every team in CONCACAF. [Panama] is physical, they are strong. And we will need to match that like we did against Honduras, who were very physical as well and tried to impose that on us and we showed that we could handle that, clearly.
"I think technically and tactically if we played the way we did against Honduras -- we were really good with the ball for long spells -- and if we can do that particularly at the start of the game it can take the sting out of the game."
Howard's teammate Alejandro Bedoya agreed, and added that besides being aggressive as the team was against Panama, the players have a renewed sense of confidence under new manager Bruce Arena because he's helped define everyone's role.
"Every coach is different, you know, they each have their own different styles, but I think for Bruce it's well known that he's a players' manager, and I think since being with him since January camp he's let everyone know their roles individually and collectively what he expects out of everyone and he's made it very clear.
"So I think you've been able to see our roles well defined and everyone is really buying into everything for the team."
STOP HERE
HOWARD:
Hectic. Trying to get prepared for those two games with the [Colorado] Rapids. Trying to see how I play, how I recover. Then trying to do the business here with the national team knowing how much pressure is on us as a group and is still on us as a group to be a part of this team that qualifies.
[The mood of the team] has changed because we have upped our goal differential. We were minus-five and now we are plus-one. We have three points on the board and I think those are the hardest three to get.
Away games in qualifying have proven to be difficult for every team in CONCACAF. They are physical, they are strong. And we will need to match that like we did against Honduras, who were very physical as well and tried to impose that on us and we showed that we could handle that, clearly.
I think technically and tactically if we played the way we did against Honduras, we were really good with the ball for long spells and if we can do that particularly at the start of the game it can take the sting out of the game.
This is what we have come to expect from young Christian. He's a performer on the highest level. He doesn't shy away from big moments. The spotlight doesn't deter him and for us it's been great for a guy like him to be able to combine with Jozy and with Clint and to make it look fairly seamless.
BEDOYA
Injuries are part of any team, part of any process that you go through. I think Bruce has let it be known that it's a whole team effort right now. One goes out the next one goes in. You know I didn't even get to warm up, but it's just about the next guy being able to get in there and get the job done.
Every coach is different, you know they each have their own different styles, but I think for Bruce it's well known that he's a player's manager, and I think since being with him since January camp he's let everyone know their roles individually and collectively what he expects out of everyone and he's made it very clear so I think you've been able to see our roles well defined and everyone is really buying into everything for the team.
I hope so. I think [being aggressive] helps with the mental aspect and of course it helps out on the field. It's everyone buying into the collective thinking that Bruce has put in place. So it's a credit to the staff and it's a credit to the players for tuning in and when we come out aggressively it puts teams on the back foot and I think that always helps.
