Cameron Carter-Vickers made a sensational World Cup debut as the Celtic defender played a huge role in the USA reaching the last 16 in Qatar.
And head coach Gregg Belhalter says it was his impressive form in the way he deals with Premiership rivals in Scotland that convinced him Carter-Vickers was the man for the job in what was the biggest result of Berhalter's career as the US team beat Iran 1-0- and will now face Holland in the knockout phase.
He told American media that he had always earmarked the Parkhead man for this game and Carter-Vickers came up trumps. The Hoops star partnered Tim Ream at the heart of the USA defence and he barely put a foot wrong as they kept a clean sheet against the Iranians.
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There was a scary moment in the final minute of stoppage time as the Iranian's protested wildly for a penalty after Carter-Vickers was involved in a tangle with Mehdi Taremi. But Spanish ref Antonio Lahoz rightly waved away the claims.
Carter-Vickers had come in for Walker Zimmerman, who had been criticised for his performances in the opening two matches after conceding a penalty against Wales when the USA were one up and then guilty of giving the ball away against England.
However, they ended up playing together as Zimmerman came on for one-time Celtic loanee Timothy Weah to shore up the defence and helped the Americans get the result they needed. Now the big question is where Ange Postecoglou's top defender keeps his place for the clash with the Dutch.
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