Christian Pulisic keeps living up to the hype
ORLANDO — Having one, special, creative, talismanic player is not always a guarantee of success for an international soccer team.
Lionel Messi, for all his brilliance, has never won a major tournament with Argentina, which might be about to miss out on reaching the 2018 World Cup. Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, one of the best forwards of his generation, never scored in any World Cup and twice failed to qualify.
Yet for the United States the biggest headline to come out of this campaign, which now looks likely to end with a spot in next summer’s tournament in Russia, is a pleasant realization. Namely, that the Americans have not only an outstanding individual player, but also one who is in sync with the identity of his team.
Christian Pulisic is seriously good. We know that much from watching him play and sprint and juke his way through opposition defenses. But everything you need to know about how effective the 19-year-old can continue to be for the U.S. could be found in the moments after he struck home the first goal of Friday’s 4-0 victory over Panama.
Pulisic was roaring with delight even as he fell to the turf after stroking the ball into the Panama net from a tight angle. He rose to his feet instantly and let out another scream, unrestrained. He kept yelling as his colleagues descended upon him, but broke free of their congratulations for a moment to stand before the Orlando fans, high-fiving one of them. He raised his arms to exhort those watching to provide more noise, more encouragement. And it set the tone for a night that had originally been laced with the potential for disaster. There was no looking back from there, and once Jozy Altidore had added two goals and Bobby Wood one more, it was easy to wonder what all the fuss about the qualifying predicament had been for.
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Forget for a moment about what it might have meant for the state of soccer in America if the team had failed to reach the World Cup, an outcome still feasible but far less so thanks to this result. The real tragedy would have been that Pulisic would have been denied the chance to unleash his talents on the most global of all sporting stages. A positive result in Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday should take care of that.
It could have been a very different kind of night. Panama came in with a charmed defensive record and sat one position and one point ahead of the U.S. in the qualifying standings. A strong start was vital and the Americans spoke about the importance of that all week. But there is a difference in discussing it, visualizing it and planning for it, and actually doing it.
“I was happy I was able to contribute and it was a really good team performance,” Pulisic said.
As you might have picked up on, Pulisic is not a big or demonstrative talker, he is more of a doer, which the U.S. can be mightily grateful for.
“One of these days people are going to stop talking about how young he is, and just talk about how good he is,” captain Michael Bradley said.
The U.S. doesn’t always find ways to get Pulisic the freedom to charge into space and create opportunities, seemingly from nothing. Sometimes it just doesn’t quite click. Sometimes his own touch and timing are off. Sometimes the opponents tactical structure doesn’t allow for it. Sometimes when the other team tries to kick him and bully him and slow him down, it works. Not this time.
This time it all fell into place. Each time Pulisic got the ball, you sensed something big was going to happen. Altidore thrived on it too, loving the ability to create and combine with him. Wood was similarly energized, and suddenly, right at the end of a difficult campaign, the U.S. looked blessed with an attacking lineup that could cause anyone problems.
Panama coach Hernan Dario Gomez summed it up when he said it could have been worse for his team, that the U.S. was so dominant it could have scored 10. It was a slight exaggeration.
Soccer is full of overblown statements, always has been. But sometimes the hype is real, and lives up to the billing. Pulisic is being hyped as much as any player in U.S. soccer history, but is living up to it and then some.
