Pulisic, Christian (1998- )

Subterms

    Latest story

    88 Shares129 Views

    USMNT Beats Mexico Behind Two Pulisic Goals

    by

    The NewsIn the first significant match for either team since the World Cup, the United States soccer team dominated a reeling Mexico, 3-0, in the semifinals of a regional championship tournament on Thursday night in Las Vegas. The victory, on the strength of two goals from the American star Christian Pulisic and another from forward Ricardo Pepi, sent the United States to the final of the tournament, the Concacaf Nations League. The Americans won the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2021.John Locher/Associated PressHard Fouls and a Homophobic ChantThe game was ugly on the field — four red cards, shoving, a torn jersey, a bloody nose — and off it. The referee Iván Barton ended the game in the eighth minute of added time, rather than play the full 12 minutes that had been announced, because of a second instance of homophobic chanting from the crowd.Mexico’s soccer federation, its players and officials from Concacaf, the soccer confederation for North and Central America and the Caribbean, have made many efforts over the years to encourage fans to stop shouting the homophobic slur during games. Mexico has been fined more than a dozen times in a failed effort to stamp out homophobic abuse, which remains a feature of games in Central and South America. Several years ago, Mexico even enlisted its star players to try to persuade fans to stop using it.But as Mexico, which struggled in last year’s World Cup, played poorly again, fans became increasingly restless and chanted the word during a contentious second half. Barton stopped play for the first time in the 90th minute amid the chanting, and Concacaf public service announcements were shown throughout the stadium encouraging fans to stop. When it happened again minutes later, he followed the tournament organizers’ protocol and blew the final whistle to end the lopsided match.“I want to make it very clear,” the United States interim coach B.J. Callaghan told reporters afterward, “it has no place in the game.”What’s Next? U.S. vs. Canada in the final.The United States will play Canada in the Nations League final on Sunday night in Las Vegas. Canada defeated Panama, 2-0, in the other semifinal on Thursday behind goals from Jonathan David and Alphonso Davies.But because of the red cards from the Mexico match, the United States will be without two key players. Midfielder Weston McKennie and defender Sergiño Dest were sent off for pushing Mexican players during testy moments.McKennie was sent off in the 70th minute after a foul on Folarin Balogun sparked a fight. McKennie had his shirt ripped in the fracas.In the 86th minute, Gerardo Arteaga and Dest were both issued red cards after exchanging shoves following a tough challenge near the sideline.The Goals: Two for Pulisic and one for Pepi.Blowing past the Mexican defense most of the game, Pulisic scored his first goal in the 37th minute, collecting a rebound near the top of the penalty area and then dribbling and firing a left-footed shot past Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa. Less than two minutes into the second half, Pulisic doubled the lead by firing home a perfectly placed cross from Tim Weah.Pepi made it 3-0 after coolly turning in a low shot after a brilliant individual effort from Dest, who had carved through the Mexican defense and then threaded a through pass to Pepi.The State of Mexico? It’s crisis.The loss, Mexico’s most lopsided defeat against the United States in 23 years, has the team’s new coach, Diego Cocca, in the hot seat already. Cocca took the job in February, after Mexico’s streak of advancing to the knockout stage in the World Cup ended. But only months into the job, he is already facing questions about his future: One Mexican reporter asked him if he planned to resign after Thursday’s loss.“I dream about a process of three and a half years, not four months,” Cocca told reporters in Spanish after the game. More

    More stories

    • 175 Shares99 Views

      in Soccer

      A Bitter World Cup Finish Brings a Chance for Team USA to Look Forward

      by

      AL RAYYAN, Qatar — The whistle blew on the United States at this World Cup, and through the Khalifa International Stadium loudspeakers came a Dutch version of “Auld Lang Syne.”The song is familiar to Americans as a New Year’s Eve anthem, played just at the moment between two distinct phases of time, a switch in the calendar. And so it was for this U.S. soccer team: a chance to reflect on what was, and to resolve for improvement in the future.The winning team from the Netherlands, the 3-1 victors headed on to the quarterfinals, danced in a huddle. The Americans stood quietly on the outside, mostly with hands on hips.“It’s frustration to begin with,” United States captain Tyler Adams said of the complex emotions. “But after reflecting for that quick moment, you could just really sit here and think it’s probably the first time in a long time where people will say, ‘Wow, this team has something special.’”This year’s U.S. team was seen as young and talented, the second-youngest roster in the tournament, with the youngest starting lineup. But this World Cup is a bit mistimed, perhaps, for a program that believes it is a couple of years from full bloom.The goal in Qatar, at least to most fans and commentators, and perhaps even to some of those close to the team, was to advance through the group stage, to reach the round of 16. That was accomplished. But goals ratchet up with each success, so the loss to the Dutch was greeted with heartbreak, and then perspective.A disappointing game. A pretty good tournament. A bright future.“When you put four performances like that out on the field, it really gives people something to be excited about,” Adams said.A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More

    • 125 Shares189 Views

      in Soccer

      Pulisic Is Recovering but Still Uncertain on US vs Netherlands

      by

      DOHA, Qatar — Christian Pulisic was happy to talk about what happened leading up to the goal he scored on Tuesday that carried the United States into the round of 16 at the World Cup.He was happy to talk about the ride to the hospital after colliding with Iran’s goalie, about how during that journey he followed the rest of the game on a trainer’s cellphone, and about the chances — not 100 percent, he said Thursday — that he would be available to play when the United States faces the Netherlands on Saturday.What he was far less comfortable talking about, as he stared out into the faces of at least 100 journalists, were the details of where he had been injured. U.S. Soccer has labeled Pulisic’s injury a “pelvic contusion.” Asked by a reporter to clarify what that meant, Pulisic took a long pause.“I mean,” he said, “it’s a pelvic contusion, you know?” The pelvic bone, he added, “is there for a reason, and I hit it well.”The specifics hardly matter. What does matter, at least for the United States, is that Pulisic admitted he was not sure he would be physically capable of going through a full training session with his teammates Thursday, 48 hours before they play the biggest game of their lives.A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More

    • 138 Shares99 Views

      in Soccer

      What We Learned About the U.S. In Its Match Against England

      by

      A feisty 0-0 tie against World Cup contender England gave the U.S. a chance — and perhaps the courage — to advance in the tournament.AL KHOR, Qatar — The chant came from deep in one corner of the stadium, ringing out loud and clear for a few moments before fading back into the general cacophony of the night.“It’s called soc-cer!” the United States fans bellowed at their England counterparts. “It’s called soc-cer!”As the United States has seen its soccer culture develop in recent decades, it has always used the great powers of Europe as a handy measuring stick, a mark of how far it has come and how far it still needs to go. Yet it is England, a country that prefers to call the sport football and definitely believes it is better than the Americans at playing it, that has always served as the reference point that matters most.The evidence is visible across the United States soccer landscape: American fans, old and new, now spend weekend mornings watching matches from England’s Premier League on television. In American soccer stadiums, they borrow liberally from English sports culture, making it their own, refracting it through a U.S. lens, but leaving no question of its DNA. And the best American players still dream of one day going overseas, anywhere at first, but eventually to stardom in Britain’s most storied stadiums.On Friday night, the United States got a rare opportunity to measure the shrinking distance between the countries’ teams, and by most assessments performed admirably, scrapping to a scoreless tie that left the Americans holding their World Cup destiny in their hands.The result — and small moments like the fans’ sassy chant — sent the message that the United States was ascendant and ambitious for more.“There’s a lot of people that obviously thought we were going to get blown out,” said the American midfielder Weston McKennie. “We went into this game, to the outside world, as obvious underdogs. But we didn’t feel like an underdog at all, because we know our capability, we know what we can do, we know what talent and fight and spirit we have.”A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More

    • 138 Shares119 Views

      in Soccer

      For USMNT and Others, World Cup Run Starts With a Sprint

      by

      The schedule for Qatar is set, but rosters are not. For players in the United States and elsewhere, a few weeks in a camp and a handful of matches could change everything.CINCINNATI — Until a few days ago, Malik Tillman, a 20-year-old midfielder from Nuremberg, Germany, had never stepped foot on American soil.Five and a half months from now, if things go the way he hopes they do, he will be representing the United States at the World Cup in Qatar.As the international soccer world enters a supposedly quiet summer period, with the European season over and most players on an all-too-brief break from their clubs, Tillman’s story offers a compelling counterpoint to any notion that teams will merely hover in holding patterns until the tournament begins in late November.National teams, after all, have only two chances left to gather before departing for the World Cup — a few games this month and a second window of matches in September — and there is a lot to be done. Squads must be assembled. Tactics must be fine-tuned. Players’ dreams will be realized or deferred. Lives will be changed.One of them could be Tillman’s. This week, he completed the switch of his soccer allegiance to the United States, the home country of his father, from Germany, the nation where he was born and where he is a rising prospect at Bayern Munich. His first appearance for the United States could come this week, in a friendly against Morocco (Wednesday) or Uruguay (Sunday).“It took me a lot of time to make the decision, but in the end, I listened to what my heart told me,” said Tillman, who started getting to know his new American teammates at their training camp this week in Cincinnati. “I hope it’s the right decision. I’m happy to be here.”Malik Tillman played for Germany’s youth national teams before announcing plans to switch to the United States last month. His move was approved on Tuesday.Tibor Illyes/EPA, via ShutterstockFor national team coaches around the world, the remaining training camp windows, and the handful of exhibition matches played in them, represent valuable time to implement new ideas and refine the ones that got them to this point.For individual players — like Tillman and others who are on the fringe of their national squads — they are opportunities to make a positive impression, to catch a coach’s eye, to earn his trust.For the teams and their fans, the games may present one final moment, perhaps, to pause and dream. The nerve-racking struggle of qualification is over. The daunting crucible of the World Cup looms. Until November, anything seems possible.Read More on the World CupAmbitious Goals: FIFA has given up on a plan to hold the World Cup every two years. But its president’s plans for the future are bold.Female Referees: Following the selection of three women among the World Cup’s 36 referees, the event in Qatar may be the first edition of the men’s tournament in which a game is refereed by a woman.Golden Sunset: This year’s World Cup will likely be the last for stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo — and a profound watershed for soccer.Senegalese Pride: Aliou Cissé, one of the best soccer coaches in Africa, has given Senegal a new sense of patriotism. Next up: the World Cup.“We don’t want to go into the World Cup thinking we just want to participate,” U.S. midfielder Weston McKennie said. “A good World Cup for anyone is going as far as you can, making it out of the group stage. A perfect World Cup is winning it.“A lot of people say it’s far-fetched for us, but it’s the mentality that we have. We want to compete. We want to win. And we want to get as far as we can.”For Tillman, who played on several of Germany’s youth national teams, the past week has been a whirlwind. He arrived in the United States late Friday night. The next day, in front of his new teammates, he was presented with a cake for his 20th birthday.Gregg Berhalter, the coach of the U.S. men’s national team, who secured Tillman’s commitment only a couple weeks ago, delivered the cake to the player.“Malik’s coming in with a bang, baby,” Berhalter said. “Happy birthday, buddy!”On Tuesday, Christian Pulisic, the team’s best player, was tasked with announcing to the group that Tillman’s switch had been officially approved by FIFA. That sparked another boisterous round of applause from the group.Asked this week for his first impressions of the United States, Tillman smiled.“It’s huge,” he said, drawing laughter from a roomful of reporters. “Germany is kind of small.” Noting the sprawling streets he had seen in Cincinnati, he added: “It’s crazy.”Amid all the extracurricular activity, there were actual training sessions on the field, where Tillman has already impressed his coaches and teammates.“He’s shown a lot of quality in training, very good understanding of the game, very good first touch and awareness around the penalty box,” Berhalter said. “So that’s been great.”Coaches at the club level have tried using Tillman as a striker, and while he has not pushed back too much against their experimentation, he sees himself as a midfielder in the mold of his favorite player, the Manchester United and France star Paul Pogba: confident, fluid, versatile.“In my mind, I’m more of a 10 than a striker because I would say my strength is my vision, and as a striker, you don’t need that in your game because the goal is almost all the time at the back of your body,” Tillman said. “I like to attack the goal, to see the goal in front of me.”Tillman said Berhalter has told him he, too, envisions him as a No. 10, a more creative role currently occupied by the likes of Pulisic, the Americans’ actual No. 10. That was one of the points that persuaded him to switch to the United States, Tillman said.The biggest selling point from Berhalter, though, was telling Tillman he could potentially make a World Cup roster this year — something that would have been impossible with Germany.Of course, outside of a small core of players like Pulisic, McKennie and Tyler Adams, no American player’s place in Qatar is guaranteed. Anything can happen as they fight for spots. Tillman knows that. So do his teammates.On many players’ minds, for instance, was the plight of defender Miles Robinson, who was largely viewed as a lock for the World Cup roster until last month, when he ruptured his left Achilles’ tendon while playing for his club, Atlanta United.Robinson’s injury was a sudden reminder to the American players of their own fragility. Defender Walker Zimmerman said he found himself allowing anxieties about injuries to seep into his mind.“When you’re looking at your goals that are right in front of you, and you’re just always a little bit more hesitant, it’s hard to fight that, but you have to,” Zimmerman said.Aside from worries about injury, players this week also expressed concerns about optimizing their situations with their clubs. For those who have signed, or could sign, with new clubs in the current European off-season, there has been a need to weigh long-term goals against the short-term practicalities of earning immediate playing time in the run-up to the World Cup.Consider Brenden Aaronson, who achieved a personal dream of signing for a Premier League team when he joined Leeds United in May. The move, he acknowledged, means he will have to fight all over again for playing time in a potentially more competitive situation. Sitting on the bench does not augur well for a player’s form.“It’s definitely a risk,” he said, “but it’s a risk I was willing to take.”All three U.S. goalkeepers — Matt Turner, Zack Steffen and Ethan Horvath — could struggle for playing time at their clubs this fall. Turner, above, is moving to Arsenal.Julio Cortez/Associated PressFor now, there are spots to be won up and down the American depth chart.Berhalter, for instance, has no go-to striker. He has not named a starting goalkeeper. And he has said he does not know who his backup left back will be.“I’m not sure the question needs to be answered right now, and the reason why is we have time,” Berhalter said when asked about the goalkeeper position. “I think it’s time to just let all this play out, and that’s the beauty of time in this case.”Players like Tillman and others, though, know the clock is ticking. More