There is a Volkswagen USA advert doing the rounds at the moment, which depicts all the pressure Christian Pulisic has had throughout his life, from a kid kicking the ball around his living room up to him playing for the USMNT. It even has Pulisic lying on a bed speaking to a psychologist, who is asking him where the pressure is coming from.
The video ends with two people watching a game saying “pressure makes diamonds.” Whilst the USA are unlikely to win any shiny prize at the World Cup in Qatar this year, it is time for star man Pulisic to make an impact at the tournament.
The USA’s best result at a World Cup (apart from the third place at a very different tournament back in 1930) was a quarter-final berth in 2002. In South Korea and Japan, the team was led by Landon Donovan, who scored twice before the USMNT ultimately fell to a 1-0 defeat to eventual finalists Germany.
Donovan would go on to make 157 appearances for his country, scoring 57 goals, and was known as Captain America. Now the USA have an heir apparent for the role of the Marvel superhero in the form of Pulisic.
Christian Pulisic must be the USMNT’s new Captain America
The forward still has a long way to go until he matches Donovan’s international record, with the Chelsea player currently on 52 caps and 21 goals. However, Pulisic has already exceeded Donovan’s impact when it comes to playing in Europe.
For all Donovan did in his career, he never really was a great success at the highest club level. For Bayern Munich and Bayern Leverkusen, he made just seven and nine appearances respectively. In England, for Everton, he did better – playing 22 times and scoring twice, with nine assists.
Pulisic’s club record in Europe is far better, with 127 appearances for Borussia Dortmund helping him to 19 goals and 26 assists. At Chelsea, he is currently on 133 games, 26 goals scored and 21 assists. You can safely say he has made more of an impact on the European game than Donovan. But he is still yet to play in the World Cup for his country.
USA’s chances in Qatar
The USMNT failed to qualify for the last World Cup, as they fell to a 2-1 defeat to Trinidad and Tobago in the qualifiers. Pulisic scored their only goal in that match, but the result was an unmitigated disaster for a team that also included Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley and Tim Howard.
The squad that has qualified this time around are a much younger side, with a mix of MLS and European players. They have players from Europe’s top clubs in AC Milan’s Sergino Dest, Juventus’ Weston McKennie, Gio Reyna from Borussia Dortmund, and of course Pulisic.
Gregg Berhalter’s side is in a group with England, Wales and Iran. The Three Lions will be the favorites, but the USA has shocked them in the past, most notably in the famous 1950 1-0 win in Brazil, and in 2010 when they managed a 1-1 draw thanks to Rob Green muffing Dempsey’s shot.
Wales will be another tough game that will see the US come up against LAFC’s Gareth Bale. The match against Iran has its political history, but when the two sides met at the World Cup in 1998 the Iranian players gifted white roses to the US team as a peace symbol. That day Iran won 2-1, so the Stars and Stripes will be looking to gain revenge for this defeat.
The pressure is on Pulisic to get his side out of this group, and they start their campaign against Wales on Monday 21st November.
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