And on Friday, ahead of a World Cup qualifier with St. Vincent and the Grenadines, it was the number 17-year-old Christian Pulisic pulled on for the first time with the U.S. senior national team. Pulisic deserves to start because he’s part of U.S. Soccer’s future, one Juergen Klinsmann’s aging team must transition to now if the coach hopes to make good on his goal of reaching the semifinals in Russia. It’s a youthful group of 10 – there’s that number again – that includes forwards Bobby Wood and Jordan Morris, midfielders Zardes and Pulisic and defenders DeAndre Yedlin and Kellyn Acosta. So perhaps there was something other than symbolism involved in giving Pulisic the No. 10 jersey, which has been more an albatross than an accolade since Klinsmann ripped it off Landon Donovan’s back a month before the last World Cup.

Source: Los Angeles Times September 03, 2016 23:03 UTC