Christian Pulisic, United States of America
Unfortunately, there aren’t detailed statistics available for Pulisic’s CONCACAF Nations League Group A fixture against Grenada and El Salvador twice, but he put in a Man of the Match performance against Grenada, scoring a goal and setting up two goals while wearing the armband. He was taken off after 64 minutes. A true captain’s performance by the Chelsea forward. He also led the United States to a win against El Salvador twice but returned no direct goal involvement in those games. In the El Salvador games, Pulisic played the full 90 minutes.
Hakim Ziyech, Morocco
Ziyech wasn’t great against Brazil, though he helped his team to a historic win against Ramon Menezes’s men. He completed 28/43 passes and 1/5 long balls. He created just one chance but completed 0/5 crosses. He made four defensive actions, including two interceptions and two tackles. His work rate was high, winning 6/12 duels. He did win four fouls though but completed 0/4 dribbles. He took five shots, none of them on target. He completed an impressive 11 passes into the final third and got dispossessed just once. This suggests that his poor dribbling numbers can be attributed more to being fouled regularly, rather than poor execution. He also made six recoveries. Against Peru, he again tried many things that didn’t come off. The former Ajax attacker completed 45/58 passes, and 6/13 long balls. He completed 2/3 dribbles and won 8/14 duels. He completed 0/7 crosses and won three fouls. He won 3/3 tackles and made an incredible 18 passes into the final third and five recoveries.