Pulisic’s USMNT Journey Continues Amid Criticism

A decade ago, Lionel Messi was deeply affected by a missed penalty in the Copa America final, leading him to temporarily step away from international football.

At that time, Messi was two years older than the current United States forward Christian Pulisic.

Today, he is a universally adored national hero, the 2022 World Cup champion, and, at 39, remains the most crucial player for a 2026 semifinalist.

No one is suggesting that Pulisic matches the greatest footballer in history.

However, when viewed broadly, the intense criticism directed at the 27‑year‑old AC Milan forward following the U.S. men’s national team’s shocking 4‑1 defeat to Belgium in the round of 16 mirrors the challenges Messi encountered with Argentina in his late twenties. This indicates that Pulisic still has ample opportunity to restore his reputation.

Similar to Messi, Pulisic emerged during a period when U.S. supporters sought a player to inherit the legacy of past icons.

For Messi, the benchmark was Diego Maradona, who guided Argentina to a second World Cup title in 1986 and stayed relevant through the 1994 cycle. For Pulisic, the comparable figures are Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey, whose attacking partnership helped the United States become a regular knockout‑stage contender in the early 2000s; Donovan notably shone during the 2002 squad that reached the quarterfinals.

Like Messi, Pulisic’s introverted nature has proved an awkward fit for the leadership expectations placed upon him, despite his willingness to embrace the associated corporate visibility.

Listening to Donovan criticize Pulisic’s camp for keeping him at an unnecessary distance echoes the grievances levied against mid‑2010s Messi, who, despite achieving virtually everything at FC Barcelona, had yet to secure a major title for Argentina.

Thus, it would be unwise to dismiss a second act for Pulisic, even though he may encounter obstacles that Messi did not.

His durability is a concern: Pulisic has exited three of his seven World Cup appearances before the 90‑minute mark due to injury, and his club career has seen him substituted early as Milan manage a chronic hip problem.

Finding a coach as receptive to constructing a system around Pulisic’s strengths as Lionel Scaloni has been for Messi since 2018 may prove difficult. While building a squad around a once‑in‑a‑generation talent like Messi is one challenge, doing so for a player who may not be his nation’s most gifted by the time the 2030 World Cup arrives presents another.

Pulisic also enjoys an advantage in the form of lower public expectations: a return to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2002 would be rightly celebrated as a success, and comparable results could be praised if the losses came against stronger opponents than a declining Belgium side.

Messi is uniquely great and remarkably effective in the latter stages of his career. Pulisic’s resurgence will need to occur earlier than Messi’s resurgence at age 34, when Messi first lifted the Copa América.

Nevertheless, opportunities may arise before then, such as the 2028 Copa América and certainly the 2030 World Cup, and the weight of expectation will likely be lighter than the pressure faced during this summer’s home World Cup.

Source link