I t wasn’t hard to see how annoyed US men’s national team star Christian Pulisic was getting. Another US national team camp, another friendly on the road to an all-important World Cup at home, and another batch of questions about his goal scoring drought, and the pressure it created for him and the team.
Before Sunday, the Milan midfielder hadn’t scored a goal for club or country in nearly six months. His dry spell just with the national team stretched back even further, with Pulisic having last found the back of the net on 19 November 2024, during a Nations League match against Jamaica.
By this past March, the US standout sounded exhausted by questions about the drought, always insisting that he felt good about his game and expressing confidence in a return to form. Lackluster performances against Belgium and Portugal did little to end the inquiries. When the US roster was revealed on Tuesday in New York, Pulisic had all but given up trying to hide his annoyance.
Pulisic was arguably the most consequential player on the field for the US in a much-needed positive result, a 3-2 win against Senegal that restores some measure of good vibes to the World Cup ho-hosts. After a lovely assist to Sergiño Dest on the US’s opener, Pulisic showed off an even better finish on their second goal, rounding the goalkeeper and finishing neatly from a tough angle off a nice feed behind the backline from Ricardo Pepi.
Just like that, Pulisic found himself sprinting, finally, towards the corner flag. He was mobbed by teammates. The celebration felt emotional, visceral even.
The questions Pulisic faced in the mixed zone after the match were more easily answered.
“Hopefully now people can stop talking about it,” Pulisic told reporters, sounding relieved he could talk about breaking the spell, not extending it.
“It felt great,” said Pulisic. “I’ve felt this confidence [the whole time.] I’ve played really well in recent months … I feel good and now, obviously this was just a friendly – we have big games ahead and I have to be ready.”
US head coach Mauricio Pochettino has expressed confidence at times in Pulisic, even playing him as a center forward in March in a bid for him to snap out of his funk. At times, though, Pochettino’s praise of his playmaker has felt a bit tempered. That was the case on Sunday, when he answered a reporter’s question about Pulisic’s game and immediately addressed the entire group, not Pulisic alone.
Read more “I think for the first time, or second or maybe the third time that we can’t complain that [everyone] had the right attitude and right commitment for the 22 players [that played],” Pochettino said in his press conference. “That’s the attitude that we’re trying to find, the commitment … [Pulisic’s] performance today in 45 minutes was really really good, but I think he still has potential to improve.”
It’s worth noting that Pochettino has also provided helpings of no-strings praise toward Pulisic in the past. As recently as last week, he told media that he was certain his star player would score at the World Cup, a ringing endorsement – or a bit of pressure – offered to the man many hope will finish his career as the greatest player in the history of American men’s soccer.
The commentary of Pulisic’s teammates was easier to analyze.
“Any player goes through high and low moments in their career,” Weston McKennie told reporters. “Obviously I think the outside world may have been worried and questioning ‘what he’s gonna look like, is he gonna be in form?’ But I think Christian has shown countless times at club level and country level that he shows up in the moments that we need him the most. He always has the support from us, the team and his close people around him. We believe in him.
“It’s amazing for all of us to witness [the end to the drought], but we move forward and we count on him for a lot of things. He’ll come through when we need him.”
It remains to be seen whether Pulisic can stretch his outstanding effort on Sunday into something more sustainable as he approaches the biggest moment of his professional career. Whatever the case, he’ll surely be relieved to stop answering questions about his form.
Sources: The Guardian
