Christian Pulisic, or 'Captain America' as fans like to call him, has granted an exclusive interview to those at Time Magazine.
On living far from the city centre, and his 20-minute commute to Milanello, the ex Chelsea forward said:
"This is how I stay the most focused."
On scoring in the 2022 World Cup:
"My eyes lit up... That’s what stamps your legacy."
To reach that stage of the tournament or beyond, Pulisic’s prowess is essential...
"Going at the goal, creating attacking actions, for me, that’s why I play the game. You obviously have to do all the other parts, defend and run, different things. That’s fine and all. But what gives me joy and excitement is creating ways to score, and scoring goals and finishing them."
Pulisic also said:
"We don’t want to be prisoners of the moment too much. But we also have to say the truth. He does not look like himself right now.”
On his way of training:
"I have a very specific way of thinking about performance and I’ve always wanted to be closer to the training ground, because that’s my job, that’s what I do every single day. It has helped me in many ways. At times, it has also made me unhappy.”
On his private life:
"Alexa Melton? I see her only in an extremely positive way. She was a lot of fun and supported me in every way. She wanted to push me to enjoy life a bit more, to do things with her and to do things in general. And I’m grateful to her for that.”
On his experience in the Bundesliga, Pulisic said:
"Being a professional footballer sounds amazing, it’s everything I ever wanted, but the idea of actually doing it terrified me. I was really scared. It was the hardest year of my life. You start thinking more and more: ‘Wow, these guys really don’t want me to succeed.’ No one at my school ever talked about European football. It was more like: ‘The World Cup is coming up. We can support the United States.’ So for me, that was everything. You learn patience, you learn that your moment will come. Life goes on."
On his move to Chelsea:
"When people say it wasn’t a successful period, it intrigues me, because I think that’s just how everyone’s career goes. A career is not a constant upward climb."
Many viewed RedBird’s signing of Pulisic as a marketing move to sell more shirts in the United States. Pulisic immediately answered the criticism with a brilliant goal on his Serie A debut:
"I didn’t think much and I didn’t listen to any kind of instructions. I just thought: ‘You know what? I’m going for it.’"
Prejudice against Americans in football?
"I like to think I’ve helped change that in many ways."
And now the World Cup... Pulisic answered:
“Skipping the Gold Cup with the national team? That period,” Pulisic explained, “was difficult for me, because normally I can silence everyone with my play. That’s what I’ve done throughout my whole career. It was the off-season, so people were only talking about me and I couldn’t just go out there, score, and shut them up. In the end, if we go to the World Cup and have a good tournament, everything will be forgotten. Everyone will talk about how good we are. That’s just how things go. I plan to score. I’m not worried about it, man. Past success at the World Cup definitely relaxes me in a way. But then the next big matches will come and I’ll still be the same person. I just hope to be a little less unpleasant, if anything. But I can lie in bed at night and picture myself lifting the World Cup trophy. I used to do that as a child. I have no intention of stopping. You have to believe. Why not?”
