Christian Pulisic went berserk on Panama, notched a jaw-dropping hat trick

Captain America put his men on his back.

Plain and simple, to qualify for the World Cup, you need your best players to show up. Without them firing on all cylinders, you might as well be without a paddle up the creek. From that respect, the United State’s Men’s National Team is in suitable, capable, and trustworthy hands.

In case you live under a rock (no shame, of course), Christian Pulisic is the U.S.’s talisman. He’s one of the best, pure attacking players in the world. On Saturday night, amidst an important 2022 qualifying game against Panama (+725) for this coming November’s tournament, Pulisic made his presence known.

And then some.

The U.S. men throttled Panama, 5-1. I almost wish that was an understatement. They did it, largely thanks to Pulisic, who could not and would not stop potting the ball in the back of the net.

First, Pulisic put the Americans on the board with an early, quite casual penalty.

Folks, I know it’s very close to the goalmouth, but it’s not supposed to be that easy.

Then, with the U.S. already up 3-0 at the end of the first half, they wanted a coup de gras. Pulisic would not waste the opportunity or the penalty.

Imagine being that goalie. You guess right and react fast enough. You did your job. But the other player is just that much better than you — by a foot over your outstretched hands. Devastating.

It is at this point that an American win was all but assured. Barring an unlikely Panamian second-half barrage, the U.S. did not necessarily have to score another goal. And, of course, Pulisic didn’t have to make seemingly every defender on the field look absolutely silly.

But he did anyway.

A hat trick, Pulisic’s first on an international stage. Steve Rogers wishes he could be as gifted and as mind-blowing as Pulisic on the first touch.

The U.S. men did not yet officially qualify for this November’s World Cup with the win. To miss out, they’d have to get (historically) molly-whopped by Costa Rica next week. That’s, well, probably not going to happen!

The Americans have Pulisic to thank for his uncommon brilliance. Something says he’ll continue to be a transcendent steward for this team.

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO).

[mm-video type=video id=01fegtfjv3x5aj0p1q80 playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fegtfjv3x5aj0p1q80/01fegtfjv3x5aj0p1q80-bf7e419dc786f114bba9be55cfe2ae6c.jpg]

[listicle id=1865017]