CINCINNATI — The capacity crowd at TQL Stadium had waited. Christian Pulisic had waited. And with a riveting but scoreless World Cup qualifier between the U.S. and Mexican men’s national soccer teams veering into its final stage Friday, the 23-year-old star who had barely played the past two months because of an ankle injury made his grand entrance.
The Americans were controlling the second half but failing to crack open an increasingly hostile match. Victory was not mandatory in the sprint for a place in the 2022 tournament in Qatar, but playing at home against their fiercest rival, the onus was on them, not the first-place visitors, to earn three points.