US Ambassador to Bangladesh Brent T. Christensen on Saturday encouraged Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman and all Bangladeshis to support the United States in the World Cup going forward.
“So, I was down here for a very important reason. Last night (Friday), the United States won a resounding victory over Australia in the World Cup, moving on to the next round,” he told reporters after his meeting with the Foreign Minister at his office in the afternoon.
“So, I was here to encourage the foreign minister (Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman) and all Bangladeshis to support the United States in the World Cup going forward, because you can never go wrong in the long run by betting on the United States.”
Christian Pulisic’s injury absence didn’t hurt the United States one bit. The Americans advanced to the knockout round of the World Cup without their injured star forward, beating Australia 2-0 on Friday for their second straight victory in the expanded 48-team tournament.
The US then won Group D when Paraguay beat Turkey 1-0 early Saturday morning.
“C.P. is a fantastic player - the quality and the leadership that he gives us,” said Folarin Balogun, who scored two goals in the 4-1 victory over Paraguay on June 12. “We didn’t have him today, but I think you saw we’re still capable to go out there and get a result and put up a performance.”
As the Group D winner, the US will play a round-of-32 match on July 1 in Santa Clara, California, against a third-place group finisher.