Christian Pulisic ended his goal drought and Folarin Balogun rifled in the winner as a much-improved United States beat Senegal 3-2 in a pre-World Cup friendly in Charlotte on Sunday.
The win — and a slick first-half offensive performance powered by Pulisic and Ricardo Pepi — provided a welcome lift for coach Mauricio Pochettino’s co-hosts.
The US had entered the clash with African powerhouse Senegal off the back of disappointing losses to Belgium and Portugal, and got the performance they needed to justify high expectations ahead of the World Cup in less than two weeks.