Pulisic central midfield vs Panama; Besler, Gonzalez in back

By AP
Published

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) Christian Pulisic was set to start in central midfield flanked by Paul Arriola and Darlington Nagbe in the United States' World Cup qualifier Friday night against Panama.

Pulisic, playing his first international match since turning 19 last month, had been at wide midfield in the September qualifiers.

Tim Howard was in goal, and DeAndre Yedlin returned to right back after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Omar Gonzalez and Matt Besler were in central defense for the fifth time this year, the most frequent duo for the U.S. in 2017, and the 15th time overall.

Jorge Villafana was at left back and captain Michael Bradley in central midfield. Bobby Wood and Jozy Altidore started up front.

Defender Michael Orozco and midfielder Juan Agudelo did not dress.