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Pulisic makes Bundesliga debut for Dortmund

Christian-Pulisic-Dortmund-Union-Berlin

January has been quite the month for Christian Pulisic.

After recording two goals in friendlies for Borussia Dortmund over recent weeks, the 17-year-old made his first German Bundesliga appearance for the club on Saturday against FC Ingolstadt 04.

Pulisic replaced midfielder Adrián Ramos in the 68th minute, reaffirming his rise at the German club. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s double guided Dortmund to a 2-0 win.

The U.S. youth international was called into Dortmund’s 18-man roster ahead of last weekend’s 3-1 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach, however, Pulisic wasn’t used during the match.

Pulisic and Dortmund will travel to Hertha Berlin in their next Bundesliga match on Feb. 6.

Here are highlights from Pulisic’s debut:

What do you think of the young American’s recent success? Can he make a leap to the USMNT?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Congrats to a kid with a bright future! Its fun that it is a totally different world than when LD made his debut. Sometimes in our push to go forward we forget how far we have already come.

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  2. I recorded it and re-watched and CP22 looked really good and aggressive, something the USMNT is lacking at just about every age level. It’s a good sign now let’s get Joe gyua healthy

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  3. Let’s not forget he was brought in during a tied match and not in garbage time. His manager has a lot of confidence in him to into a tied league match instead of a cup match against a lower tier club. On a related note, any word on Joe Gyau these days?

    Let’s stop the hype train right now. Let him earn minutes at his club and play with the U-20s before we start him at the Olympics and cap him.

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  4. That’s a lot of activity for 22+ minutes. He had about 3 or 4 near assists. He looked very active and seemed to fit in well. Is it possible he could really carve out regular sub minutes for one of the best sides in the world at 17 or is this just a look see like Arsene did with GZ? I love how this kid looks to make something happen every time he touches the ball. Way too early to say we could be looking at our future first world class field player but I can’t help thinking it :).

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  5. great news! just from the highlights, he didn’t look out of place at all, although i’m assuming those showed only his positive contributions, and wasn’t a compilation of every touch he took.

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  6. Before watching highlights I thought it was crazy to think the full team, but after the highlights I think he should get a look at the next camp.

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  7. Has there ever been an American to play in a top 5 league game who was this young? I can’t think of any since I think Donovan was 18 when he first played in Germany and Spector was 18 when he first played in the EPL. Any other possibilities? We might have one heckuva team by 2022.

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      • Huge difference to get some minutes with scrubs in a meaningless champions league game and getting run in a real game, very impressive.

      • Not to nitpick, but he had close to 40 minutes against Galatasaray, who aren’t exactly scrubs. Yes, Arsenal didn’t need that win, but Galatasaray did need 3 points. So not exactly meaningless.

    • Bradley was only 18 when he went to Heerenveen. The big difference is they actually paid a transfer fee for Bradley whereas Pulisic was basically free since he had not signed a pro contract with MLS (thank you Jurgen, making sure no club in the US get a fee, glad you’re looking out for the German clubs).

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      • Your comment makes absolute no sense. He was never part of any team’s academy so nobody owned his rights, hence him being able to sign for free. Also, I’d rather him be playing at Dortmund than any team in MLS. Please look up your sh*t before you talk sh*t.

      • LOL CU24 please heed your own advice. Pulisic played for the Union and PA Classics, the latter of which has a long history of producing top talent. You think Pulisic just developed himself?

      • “Your comment makes absolute no sense. He was never part of any team’s academy so nobody owned his rights, hence him being able to sign for free. Also, I’d rather him be playing at Dortmund than any team in MLS. Please look up your sh*t before you talk sh*t.”

        “wood chip zip
        LOL CU24 please heed your own advice. Pulisic played for the Union and PA Classics, the latter of which has a long history of producing top talent. You think Pulisic just developed himself?”

        CU24, this is what happens when you run your month without double-checking your facts (or lack thereof).

      • http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/01/31/who-us-international-christian-pulisic-and-how-did-he-make-borussia-dortmund-first
        Here’s an article from MLS themselves, whom according to you, are the most affected from Pulisic decision to leave for Germany. Nowhere in the article does it say that he trained with the Philadelphia Union, just with the PA classics, who last time I checked had no affiliation with the Union. He also spent time at the residency program before moving to Germany. At no time did he belong to the Union, so why should they receive compensation for something they didn’t do?

      • This also has nothing to do with JK< and everything to do with US Soccer (on behalf of MLS) refuses to pay solidarity fees and development compensation.

        You complain about Pulisic (who grew up playing for PA Classics, and training with Harrisburg City Islanders; not Union), but were you voicing the same concerns over Crossfire FC not receiving any payments for Yedlin?

  8. looking at the highlights, it appears he could have scored the two goals. First goal is a cross that he was going to close out on the back post. Second goal he could have tapped in on a pass across the six but aubyameng-whatever shot instead.

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  9. This kid didn’t look overmatched at all. Should definitely get a look at least. Guys ahead of him on the wing like zardes are nothing special

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    • hes 17 for god sake. Let the kid develop for at least a year or 2 before calling him. It seems the requirement for being a usa call up is just to debut for a team.

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      • When you’re playing for a club like Borussia Dortmund at 17…. You’ve got the potential to be very special and the USA doesn’t have a deep talent pool… We need him

        Also, it’s still possible he plays for Croatia if we wait… Though jurgens recent comments seem to indicate he will be called into the next camp

      • I’m just saying bring him into the next friendlys. See where he is. His competiton ahead of him is nothing special. Nothing to lose if u ask me

    • While I’m happy for the kid, lets not get carried away with a single appearance. We need to be patient and let him settle in a bit before heaping to many expectations on him. While our wing options (Fabian, Zardes, Bedoya, Green, Finlay, Lleget, Green) may not be world class they are sufficient enough to get the US into the Hex. At which point IF Pulisic is still receiving minutes than we can bring him into the USMNT.

      I am more worried about our Outside Backs at this time than I am our Outside Midfielders.

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      • My excitement for him is not based on one appearance. It’s based on what I’ve seen out of him for years. His talent has not been overstated

    • Horvath in goal a back line of Payne, Brooks, miazga and yedlin. Pulisic, Hyndman and zelalem. Up top Morris, kieswitter and arriola. 4-3-3. I through arriola in cuz he is getting min and some starts down in liga mx now

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      • This lineup has quality at all positions and would like to see what the attacking trio of Arriola, Kessewieter (sp?) and Morris can produce.

      • we can definitely win the olympics with this line up. No other country has this much quality in so many positions

      • It is sad that this team had that hick up in the Olympic Qualifiers. When you consider the talent that was not in those games we could have dominated that tourney. Yedlin, Payne, Brooks, Pulisic, Gooch amongst others. I think CCV is on that backline instead of Brooks, if for nothing else to keep him from jumping ship.

      • Matt–reality check. The Olympics is being played in Brazil and their U-23 team is awesome. I think their U-23’s could easily handle our full national team. First let’s qualify and then see if we can get out of our group before dreaming any farther. Colombia won’t be an easy team to beat.

    • I was just looking at this the other day and came up with something like this
      —————-Kiesewetter——————–
      Morris———–Gil————-Rubin?—–
      ————-Trapp——-Hyndman———–
      –?——Brooks——–Miazaga——-Yedlin
      —————–Horvath————————

      With guys like CCV, vincent, alashe, zelalem, green, pulisic, arriola and shelton on the bench, actually a pretty good group based on talent

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  10. I hope this helps debunk the theory that there is a prejudice towards American players in Europe.

    It is only about whether you’re good enough, and thick-skinned enough. There is no bias here (aside from it being overtly macho, ie. still no female coaches in a 1st division… but that’s another subject).

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    • I think there is a bit of a bias, though not against Americans specifically. I think there’s a bias against non-traditional soccer powers, or countries where soccer is not king. Players from the US, Canada, China, India, Australia, etc. will always have to deal with a few extra doubts that players from countries with a history of producing more top players will not have to deal with.

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    • IMO the prejudice/bias associated with US players only exists in certain situations. I think many teams across Europe see US players as good value for their dollar, in that our players tend not to have inflated prices (unless dealing with MLS Transfer fees). Where our players run into trouble is if there are other players from European countries that are playing at a similar level as the US player they are in direct competition with. In cases like these the European player is often given more opportunities than their US counterpart either because the EU player represented a greater investment by the club or due to some peoples belief that the EU player has greater potential due to their youth training.
      However if/when a US player proves themselves, like Boca, McBride, Dempsey, & Cameron have done they not only become one of the Managers favorites but also fan favorites as well. It usually just takes a little more time to build the traction necessary to really prove themselves.

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  11. “the 17-year old made his first Bundesliga start for the club on Saturday against FC Ingolstadt 04.
    Pulisic replaced midfielder Adrián Ramos in the 68th minute”

    Not to nitpick here but if he was subbed ON in the 68th minute he didn’t make his first START for the club. Regardless, glad to see him climbing the ladder & getting first team minutes!

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