Christian Pulisic

Christian Pulisic
Pulisic with the United States in 2019
Personal information
Full name Christian Mate Pulisic[1]
Date of birth (1998-09-18) September 18, 1998 (age 26)[2]
Place of birth Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3]
Position(s) Winger, attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 AC Milan
Number 11
Youth career
2005–2006 Brackley Town[4]
2006–2007 Michigan Rush[5]
2008–2015 PA Classics[6]
2015–2016 Borussia Dortmund
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 Borussia Dortmund 81 (10)
2019–2023 Chelsea 98 (20)
2019 → Borussia Dortmund (loan) 9 (3)
2023– AC Milan 48 (17)
International career‡
2012–2013 United States U15 10 (2)
2013–2015 United States U17 34 (20)
2016– United States 76 (32)
Medal record
Men's soccer
Representing  United States
CONCACAF Nations League
Winner 2021 United States
Winner 2023 United States
Winner 2024 United States
CONCACAF Gold Cup
Runner-up 2019 United States
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:43, November 23, 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of November 18, 2024

Christian Mate Pulisic (/ˈmɑːteɪ pəˈlɪsɪk, ˈpʊlɪsɪtʃ/;[7] Croatian: Pulišić,[8] pronounced [krǐstijan mǎːte pǔliʃitɕ];[9][10][11] born September 18, 1998) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger for Serie A club AC Milan and captains the United States national team.[12] Widely regarded as one of the best North American players of all time, he is nicknamed "Captain America" for his dribbling, speed, and finishing.[13][14][15][16]

An alumnus of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, Pulisic began his professional career at Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, where he progressed quickly through the team's youth academy, featuring in only 15 youth games. He was then promoted to the senior team in January 2016, at age 17.[17] He featured sparingly in his first season at the club, but his involvement began increasing dramatically in the following season, where he was a mainstay in the Dortmund team that won the 2016–17 DFB-Pokal.[18] His performances made him a finalist for the 2017 Golden Boy award and runner-up of the 2018 Kopa Trophy.[19]

In January 2019, Pulisic moved to Premier League club Chelsea in a transfer worth $73 million (£57.6 million), making him the most expensive North American player of all time, and began playing for the club in the 2019–20 season.[20] During the following season, he was an integral part of the team that won the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, and became the first American to play in a Champions League final.[21][22] In the 2021–22 season, he won the 2021 UEFA Super Cup and 2021 FIFA Club World Cup.[23] He moved to Serie A club AC Milan in June 2023 and became the league's all-time American top scorer within his first season.[7]

Pulisic played for the United States at under-15 and under-17 levels, before making his senior national team debut in March 2016 at age 17. He is the youngest player ever to captain the United States national team in the modern era.[24] He reached the final of the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where he was named best young player of the tournament. He won the CONCACAF Nations League in 2021, 2023 and 2024, winning the best player award of the 2023 tournament. Individually, he has won a U.S. Soccer Young Player of the Year award and is tied with Landon Donovan for the record of four U.S. Soccer Player of the Year awards. He has been called the "face" of American soccer.[25]

  1. ^ "Squad List: FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2021: Chelsea FC" (PDF). FIFA. February 9, 2022. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  2. ^ "Christian Pulisic: Overview". Premier League. Archived from the original on June 11, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  3. ^ "Christian Pulisic". www.chelseafc.com. Archived from the original on November 13, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  4. ^ Ames, Nick (May 31, 2016). "Christian Pulisic: the making of a young man ready to step up". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 3, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  5. ^ "Rush Alumni Christian Pulisic Makes Bundesliga Debut with Borussia Dortmund". Rush Soccer Club. RushCanada.com. October 3, 2016. Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  6. ^ "Christian Pulisic". ussda.demosphere.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Masters of Modern Soccer: Christian Pulisic and the Craft of the Attacking Midfielder". SI. May 2018. Archived from the original on July 8, 2019. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  8. ^ "Christian Pulišić – Chelsea – UCL". UEFA. Archived from the original on September 23, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  9. ^ "Krìstijan". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Croatian). Archived from the original on March 17, 2018. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  10. ^ "Máte". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Croatian). Archived from the original on September 16, 2019. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  11. ^ "Púla". Hrvatski jezični portal (in Croatian). Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  12. ^ "Christian Pulisic – USMNT – US Mens Soccer Official Site". US Soccer. Archived from the original on January 30, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  13. ^ "Golazo 100 countdown: Ranking the best men's soccer players in the world for 2024". CBS Sports. June 6, 2024. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  14. ^ "2024 FC 100: Haaland among best forwards in men's soccer". ESPN. June 4, 2024. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  15. ^ "Top 50 players at 2022 World Cup, No. 39: Christian Pulisic". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on December 14, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  16. ^ "Ochoa, Pulisic, Davies among Concacaf World Cup Best XI". CONCACAF. December 19, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  17. ^ Uersfeld, Stephan (January 5, 2016). "U.S. youngster Christian Pulisic trains with Borussia Dortmund first team". ESPN. Archived from the original on October 29, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  18. ^ Bird, Liviu (January 20, 2016). "USA's Pulisic a fast-rising talent at Dortmund". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on October 17, 2019. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  19. ^ sport, Guardian (October 23, 2017). "Golden Boy 2017: Kylian Mbappé beats Dembélé and Rashford to award". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  20. ^ Law, Matt (January 2, 2019). "Chelsea strike early in transfer window to sign Borussia Dortmund winger Christian Pulisic for £57.6m". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference :8 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ "Christian Pulisic, 20, becomes youngest in modern era to captain U.S. men's national team in 1–0 loss to Italy". Chicago Tribune. November 20, 2018. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  25. ^ "Christian Pulisic on being the face of American soccer: 'I can't believe that I've got to this point so soon'". CBS Sports. June 16, 2021. Archived from the original on April 16, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2023.