Pulisic unhappy with attendance at US friendly

US captain Christian Pulisic was critical of the level of American support from the crowd of 19,512 at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, during a 3-0 victory over Morocco on Wednesday night.

"For whatever reason, I'm not super happy with the amount of Americans here, however, that works out, if I'm being completely honest," the 23-year-old Chelsea forward told ESPN2 after the first of four World Cup warm-up matches for Team USA in June.

"But thanks to the ones who did come, and the support is always great from them."

The US had drawn a sellout crowd for its first match at the stadium, a 2-0 win over Mexico in a World Cup qualifier on Nov 12.

Brenden Aaronson and Timothy Weah scored midway through the first half and Haji Wright converted a second-half penalty in his international debut.

The US extended its home unbeaten streak to 24 matches since a September 2019 loss to Mexico, two shy of the team record.

Pulisic, who has been linked with a move away from Chelsea, set up Aaronson for his sixth international goal in the 26th minute.

Weah scored in the 32nd minute for his third international goal, a long-range shot off the goalkeeper's glove.

Pulisic drew a penalty kick from Achraf Hakimi in the second half and handed the ball to Wright, who beat goalkeeper Yassine Bounou in the 64th minute.

"He needed that goal, and he said he was confident to go step up and take it, so I wanted him to get that confidence, and I'm glad he scored," Pulisic said.

The US plays an exhibition against Uruguay on Sunday at Kansas City, then has Nations League matches against Grenada on June 10 in Austin, Texas, and in El Salvador four days later.

The other World Cup warm-up matches for the US are a pair of exhibition games in Europe in September.

The Americans open the World Cup in Qatar on Nov 21 against the winner of Sunday's Wales-Ukraine playoff. They play England four days later and close group play against Iran on Nov 29.

AP