Christian Pulisic shines as US kick off World Cup preparations with 3-2 win over Senegal

The dry spell is over. Christian Pulisic broke a nearly six-month period without a goal on Sunday, assisting on the US opener and scoring a lovely goal himself not long afterward to lead the US to a 3-2 victory against Senegal in Charlotte, North Carolina. Playing in front of 57,741 in the first of two send-off matches ahead of this summer’s World Cup , the US looked lively throughout the match, a far cry from the dour pair of performances they put in against Portugal and Belgium in March. And the sterling performance from Pulisic, perhaps their most important attacking player, offers plenty of reasons for optimism for a program that had few of those after the two-loss March international window. The encouraging effort did leave lingering questions, though, about the US’s ability to defend and manage games. Senegal’s Sadio Mané scored just before and after half-time, with both goals coming off of US defensive breakdowns, continuing a troubling trend for the Americans. In other cycles, send-off matches have served largely as a celebratory tour for the team, an opportunity to make tiny adjustments and build confidence. The buildup to this World Cup has felt different, as US head coach Mauricio Pochettino has faced a bevy of questions ahead of an all-important tournament on home soil. Pulisic’s poor form aside, Pochettino has yet to name a starting goalkeeper and neither Matt Turner, who started on Sunday, nor NYC FC’s Matt Freese has emerged as a clear frontrunner. …