Pulisic also scored his side’s match winning goal on the night
Christian Pulisic might not have endured the best of times with Chelsea this season but the player’s last couple of showings with the USMNT side have showed why he’s held in such high stature.
Captaining USA for the fourth time in his career and for almost the first time in two years, Pulisic emerged as his country’s match winner against Northern Ireland. The player was electric in the FIFA friendly, running the show for his country as he powered them to a 2-1 triumph.
Winning a penalty in the second half, Pulisic went onto comfortably slot it home at the hour mark. The goal doubled his side’s lead on the day after Gio Reyne had previously given USA the lead in the first half.
The two goals were enough to see USA hang onto their first triumph against an European opponent in a long time. Despite Northern Ireland’s late onslaught, USA did more than enough to stave off their opponent’s threat in the matchup.
Pulisic Mesmerises With His Ball Handling Abilities
However, it wasn’t only the penalty which earned Pulisic plaudits on the day. The starlet was hailed for an exceptional bit of skill in the contest, one which saw him bring the ball down under his magic as he worked his way past tight spaces to leave Ireland’s defenders in his dust.
“That’s where I want to be. I want to help lead this team in whatever way that is, whether that’s with the captain’s band or not,” Pulisic said. “I hope I can always lead by example and be one of the hardest workers out there. And that’s always going to be my aim. And if I do that, I think the guys will see that and do the same, I hope.”
“I think it gives the team a lot of stability in the back, especially it allows you to swing the ball around just having that extra man in the back,” Pulisic said. “And it just allows me to come inside a bit more and for me to find that space in the pocket.”
“Christian, their team plays a similar way, right? Sergiño at Barcelona plays a similar way,” Berhalter said. “Antonee Robinson at Fulham plays as a wingback. Gio played the similar position for Dortmund. So we thought that they would be comfortable playing that way.”
