With U.S. Men’s National Team duty looming, Christian Pulisic got an extended run out in his first club match on U.S. soil.
Pulisic played 55 minutes on Tuesday night as Borussia Dortmund earned a tie with LAFC at Banc of California Stadium. Pulisic
“The stadium was unbelievable,” Pulisic said. “It was awesome to play with Dortmund for the first time in the USA against a good American opponent, LAFC, against a new team, and I had a lot of fun out there.
“Just to return home is awesome, man. I missed home. It was great. I had some family out here. It was just an awesome day.”
While Pulisic put in a strong shift for a majority of the match, the goals came after the midfielder was taken out of action. Aaron Kovar scored the opener in the 77th minute before Max Phillip gave Dortmund an equalizer just minutes before extra time.
The match left Pulisic impressed with LAFC’s style of play. The midfielder said the match was played at a “good level” that provided a fun post-season test for a Dortmund team that now has a bit of a break before Lucien Favre takes over for preseason.
“So this year, I would definitely say there were a lot of ups and downs,” Pulisic said. “At the end, we didn’t finish so strong, but we won the games that we needed to, and we ended up accomplishing our goal of getting into the Champions League again. So, we’re going to work to improve even more for next season and do everything we can to finish even higher
“I’m excited to get in next season and work,” he added. “Obviously I learned a lot of things from (Peter) Stoger as well, so yeah, I’m looking forward to it. That’s his job, he has to come in and teach us as much as he can, so hopefully next season will be a good one.”
Now Pulisic looks forward to joining up with the USMNT for a friendly against Bolivia. He’s expected to begin training with the group on Friday before taking the field on Monday for his first USMNT appearance since the end of World Cup qualifying.
“We have a little bit of a younger roster this time around,” Pulisic said. “I’m going to go in there and help all my teammates and do what I can to get better every single day. That’s all we can do looking forward and ultimately, that’s our goal: to be in the next World Cup.”
Game was entertaining, BvB had very little interest in defending allowed LAFC to have a lot the ball. Looked like a team without their new manager who had spent the previous day surfing and eating chicken and waffles from Roscoe’s.
LAFC looked really good last night. They played with confidence but showed they lacked that finishing quality in the final third. With that being said they played good tactical, technical and entertaining soccer (and yes I know its a friendly but still). Bob Bradley has done wonders with that team and it showed yesterday on the field (if only DC UNITED found him first ? )
I watched game for 70 minutes to see how LAFC would hold up before massive substitutions made. They did way more than hold up. They were the better team and made BVB look like a MLS team of 5 years ago.
Way to go Bob Bradley and team.
LAFC missed a lot of good chances. But, you should take into account that their best finisher, Vela, was taken off before the end of the first half. I believe he was the first starter for either team to be subbed out. All in all, LAFC looked better for most of the game. Even given that this was a friendly with a lot of subs and Dortmund had to travel a long way, it was a very impressive performance by LAFC. ActuAlly, they played the way(quick, accurate medium length passes to players who found open spaces)) I wished the USMNT team would play.
“While Pulisic put in a strong shift for a majority of the match”
Bullshit. He looked below mediocre except for the last 15 minutes before he got pulled.
Don’t be scared to say it. This is not fox news, the iq is too high and we are grown adults able to take the truth.
You, high IQ, adult? Dare I add mentally challenged comedian? I would if you were funny, dipshit.
I didn’t know Rachel Madcow had an account here.
I would not say Pulisic was mediocre in his first half hour, but he was defiantly invisible. But it was not due to his part. The LAFC were masterful in possessing and holding the ball in the first half and may have had a goal. As such there was little service to the offensive end and to Pulisic or any other BVB player for that matter.