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Watch Paul Arriola score in another USMNT stock-raising performance
Paul Arriola's very good start to 2017 just keeps going.
The American prospect and Club Tijuana winger scored his second goal of this Liga MX Clausura on Saturday night, a goal that puts an exclamation point on his good form in Mexico recently.
http://streamable.com/pzves
The goal itself is a solid one as he settles the pass and hits a strike low and hard to cap off a killer counterattack, helping Xolos beat Leon, 4-2. But the goal doesn't matter as much as his form lately, which has been getting better and better.
He didn't start at all through the Liga MX Apertura last year, but now he's being given a bigger role, including the start on Saturday, and making the most of it. Last month, Arriola scored what was maybe the goal of his life with a stunning volley for Xolos against Puebla, and he doesn't seem to be stopping there.
With that, Arriola looks to be boosting his national team standing in the right way: He's playing great for his club and is probably making it pretty hard for coach Bruce Arena to ignore him.
It doesn't look like Arriola is going to overtake Christian Pulisic as the first choice right winger anytime soon, but he may very well bump Alejandro Bedoya down the depth chart.
Bedoya, for all the discipline and hard work he brings to the right flank, doesn't have the attacking presence that Arriola does. At the recent January camp, where Arena looked at MLS players, Bedoya didn't do much to help his case, and it's not hard to imagine Arriola taking over the back-up spot behind Pulisic if he continues to play well.
Arriola was a Jurgen Klinsmann addition to the USMNT player pool. Klinsmann brought Arriola in and played him twice – and Arriola scored in both of his first caps. But the 22-year-old hasn't had a chance under Arena for the USMNT yet.
If the native of Chula Vista, California can keep up this form with Xolos, he'll probably be getting a call sooner rather than later. World Cup qualifying resumes for the USMNT in March, with no more tune-ups before then, so Arena has some tough choices ahead – and Arriola may be able to make those choices even tougher.
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