JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The biggest star on the U.S. men's national soccer team has yet to play a full game at this year's FIFA World Cup. Yet maybe no one is more important to the Americans' ambitions of a deep run than their star, Christian Pulisic. That run could start tonight with their round of 32 game against Bosnia and Herzegovina. NPR's Becky Sullivan has this story.
BECKY SULLIVAN, BYLINE: Christian Pulisic doesn't love the media. By nature, he is a quiet, shy guy. But late last week, he was in a great mood for seemingly the first time this World Cup.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CHRISTIAN PULISIC: Can I guess the first question?
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: You have an answer for it?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
PULISIC: I'm just kidding. Go ahead.
SULLIVAN: Finally, he was back to practicing with the team after he'd been pulled at halftime of the Americans' first game against Paraguay, when a defender kicked him hard in the calf. Then he'd had to miss the whole second game, too. Now every reporter wanted to know, was he good to go?
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PULISIC: Yeah. I'm feeling good. Yeah, I've obviously joined with the team in the last few days. So I'm feeling good, positive going into it. And hopefully I'll be able to play a part in tomorrow.
SULLIVAN: Pulisic is used to all this fuss by now, all this attention to every little injury - well, to everything he does, really. For more than a decade, his slender shoulders have carried the weight of all of America's soccer hopes and dreams. That excitement heard here on Fox back in 2016.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED SPORTSCASTER: Christian Pulisic, the youngest American in the modern era of the U.S. national team to score a goal, 17 years of age.
SULLIVAN: Not every promising teenager pans out. But for every daydream that U.S. soccer might've had about him, Pulisic has met it and more. At 27, he's already scored more goals than any American before him in the big five European leagues. And he's the first American to play in and win a Champions League final and a Super League final. Pretty much the only thing left to do is accomplish some World Cup glory.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TYLER ADAMS: I can't even imagine the weight that's on his shoulders in terms of, from such a young age, he was, like, the hope of American soccer.
SULLIVAN: Here's his longtime friend and teammate, midfielder Tyler Adams.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ADAMS: I mean, to step into a World Cup cycle going into 2018 and be the best player on the field at 17 years old, and be the person that they rely on, it's been since then that the team has relied on him. I think now we have weapons around him to kind of relieve that. But he's a star.
SULLIVAN: Pulisic is all grown up now. His baby-faced cheeks have a five-o'clock shadow. His left arm has a sleeve of tattoos. And he's grown up on the field, too, says Marcelo Balboa, who captained the national team in the 1990s. For years when Pulisic was the only serious threat on the team, opponents would just swarm him and get really physical with him.
MARCELO BALBOA: At the end of the day, they all go kick him. They all take him down. They figure if they can slow down Christian, they can slow down the U.S. national team.
SULLIVAN: But now almost every U.S. starter has a key role on a team in a top European league. In other words, Pulisic no longer has to do it all himself. Balboa says that lets him play more calmly and freely.
BALBOA: It's been fun to watch him mature on the emotional side, not get so emotional when he's getting kicked. He gets up, he moves on, he keeps playing. And I think that's a huge part of the game.
SULLIVAN: Recently, Pulisic was asked whether he felt that there was less weight on him. He stopped to think.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PULISIC: I don't really know, to be honest. I don't feel a difference in weight. I'm not sure - maybe less. I mean, I just feel like there's so many good players around me. I genuinely don't feel like I have to do anything on my own.
SULLIVAN: Sure enough, the national team qualified for the knockout stage mostly without him. They beat Paraguay with Pulisic only playing the first half, then they beat Australia with him on the bench. Now Pulisic says he's ready for a full game. And the timing couldn't be better. The last time the U.S. played in the World Cup knockout round four years ago, Pulisic had the assist on the Americans' only goal in a loss to the Netherlands. Now, these four years later, he says he and the rest of his teammates are ready for a different ending.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PULISIC: As I've gotten older - like, your first time, you feel those nerves even more and it can be that much more difficult. And when you've been there before, you say, OK, I can handle this.
SULLIVAN: A win would mark the first knockout round win for the U.S. men since 2002. That would be a good start for Pulisic's World Cup legacy, and many hope not the end.
Becky Sullivan, NPR News, Santa Clara, California.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
