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Christian Pulisic impresses for Borussia Dortmund in friendly win over AC Milan

It’s only taken one preseason match for Christian Pulisic to pick up right where he left off last season for Borussia Dortmund.

The young U.S. Men’s National Team phenom was crucial in Dortmund’s 3-1 International Champions Cup victory over AC Milan in China in the early hours of Tuesday morning, further cementing his position as a key player for the Bundesliga squad. Pulisic contributed to all three Dortmund goals on the day, notching an assist on the opener, then earning a penalty that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would convert, before assisting Aubameyang on his second of the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7Rk8lmK5d4

The preseason performance continues what has been a meteoric rise for Pulisic with Dortmund. After breaking in to the first team in 2015-16 with 12 appearances and two goals, Pulisic earned his place as a first-team regular in 2016-17 with 41 appearances and five goals for Dortmund. He appeared in 10 Champions League matches, scoring once as well, placing him in lofty company among Americans.

His successes have earned him a regular spot with the USMNT as well, as he’s made 16 appearances while scoring seven goals for the senior team, though he was left off this summer’s Gold Cup roster as head coach Bruce Arena sought to give some fringe players a chance to earn their place in the team. Dortmund kicks off their season in mid-August against Wolfsburg, and Pulisic will hope to continue his development with another big season.

Comments

  1. I worry about him. Just saw other hightlights of Borussia Dortund playing other teams (i think a lower level German club and one from Japan), he was getting kicked like crazy cos he was just too fast for them. I hope he gets on this coming season unscathed and all season long. Too good a player like that tends to get injured real quick cos of the snapping tackles of the opposition. Just have to keep our fingers crossed and hope no injury comes his way

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    • I’m less worried about him getting injured/hacked while playing in BvB’s squad than I am when he’s playing for the USMNT. At BvB he’s one of many talented players playing in a league that values attractive soccer and play on top quality fields. With the USMNT he’s a stand-out player who’ll often be going against semi-pro players on bad fields and with Ref’s who won’t give a “F” if he’s chopped down. He missed the bulk of this cycles qualifying games down in central america, and at the start of the Hex he was still fairly unknown. Next cycle he’s going to have a huge target on his back.

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  2. I don’t believe Pulisic is quite in the class of young superstars like Mbappe or Dybala (they have that extra something special that could make them future Ballon d’Or winners). But compared to everyone we have seen so far in a US jersey at the Gold Cup, Pulisic is already Pele.

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    • I don’t think he is as skilled as Dembele, either. The French are really loaded with good young players. Still, he has done more than any other American at this age and may be considered among the best 11 if you were to put together a team of U-19’s. He probably would have been the class of the U-20 World Cup, which, to be fair, was missing some other outstanding players.

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      • From what I have seen I would say Pulisic is right there with Dembele skill wise, you could argue a fraction behind. But Dembele makes more poor decisions and mistakes if you ask me. The french pedigree Is hard to go against though, you are right.

      • Going by last year (didn’t see the friendly this morning) Dembele is better, but Pulisic is steadier. I think it’s as much athleticism as any thing else. Dembele has higher peaks and lower valleys in terms of his play which can make CP seem better on some days, plus we as American fans are a little partial.

      • It can’t be understated that Dembele is 3 years older than CP, in three years time Cp will be doing more than what Dembele is right now. # years is a long time to refine your game and to mature in the proper way on and off the field!

    • Paulo Dybala has a 5 year gap on Pulisic, but it can be argued that he is just as influential on his BvB team. Mbappe is the same age, but he does seem to have a nastier cutting edge and scorers mentality which could be a product of him being a striker however. European players will always be given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to tabbing them as better than american players, whether its down to level of training or being given better opportunities but i’d argue that CP is starting to change that perception!

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      • I’m not able to respond to your other post, but Dembele is only a year older than Pulisic. Not 3 years older as you stated.

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