In talking The Athletic through some of the notable firsts of his life and career, Chelsea and USA forward Christian Pulisic explains the strange circumstances of his first meeting with Lionel Messi, how Jurgen Klinsmann green-lit his high school prom, and why he sang The Star-Spangled Banner on a bus ride through Burnley…

First poster on your bedroom wall 

Luis Figo. He was at Inter Milan at the time and he was my idol. I watched games in our basement with my dad, and Figo was a player I really loved. My dad picked up on that and bought me the poster. I wonder where that poster is now…

First nickname

Figo! My dad still calls me that, actually, but only him. I met Luis Figo once after a Champions League game. He was in the tunnel and I met him in passing. I was so excited, said hello and shook his hand. I didn’t want to seem like a fanboy, but I really wanted a picture of him. I never asked, though. The “Captain America” nickname came much later. I guess it comes with the territory of being American and a lot of people use it, but none of my team-mates or friends calls me that.  I don’t mind hearing it but wouldn’t say I love it.

Advertisement

First time you remember watching football on TV

Back in that basement watching with my dad and his close friend, Bob. We’d watch European football — the Euros, Real Madrid, the Premier League. It was a man cave down there. Mum tended to stay out of there.

First time you cried

After losing a game at Kiddie Kickers. I was a very competitive little kid. I don’t think anyone kept score of the game, but I always did in my head. If we lost, I would get in the car and my parents would hear me cry all the way home. They just shook their heads and probably thought, “This kid is strange, he probably needs help.”  

First piece of criticism

I was living in Michigan and there was a coach at a camp, Andy. He was quite hard on me. I was young and remember doing a drill, but he kept telling me that I was doing something wrong. I thought I was doing everything fine and he was the first one who was getting on me and telling me that I needed to touch the ball one way and open my body. He was very hard and it always stuck with me. It helped me learn a lot because he was giving good points.

First time you were angry at your own performance

There have been a lot of occasions. If I was eight or nine and I missed a penalty or didn’t have a very good game I was very hard on myself. I put a lot of pressure on myself to succeed when I was growing up — if anything, I almost gave myself a little slack as I got older because it would have been too much at times.

First time you came to England

Moving to Brackley for a year when I was six. My sister and I were upset about moving, it was a whole new thing. The thing I always remember was that we had to wear uniforms for school, which was really strange to me. Everything seemed very foreign, but we ended up liking it in England. 

First goal

My first goal will have been when I first lived in England, so aged six or seven. I played for Brackley Town and scored in a tournament with them. I was so proud of that. I felt like I’d arrived in a new country and could play for a team. That was when I first really started to love football in England.  

First contract

That will have been with Dortmund. I was so proud to make the jump from playing in the States to signing for a big club in Europe. Even though I wasn’t going with the first team right away, I felt like I was really taking a step in my journey to become a pro and the player I wanted to be. It was tough in Germany at first. That first night I remember being in a hotel just talking on the phone to friends from home. I was giving all of that up, my schooling and hanging out with friends, to be so far from home. It was a big risk and a big sacrifice but I really wanted to do it and get started.  

First game for Dortmund

Ingolstadt in the Bundesliga. I made a sub appearance and it was amazing, an amazing day and feeling. It was at home in front of 80,000. Looking up at the Yellow Wall and seeing all of those people… the support is really strong in Dortmund.  

First trophy 

The DFB-Pokal in 2017. So special. We played Frankfurt in the final and I was brought on at half-time. I drew the penalty that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored, and that turned out to be the winning goal. It was a cool night. The Pokal is really special in Germany and we had a big celebration in Berlin. 

First game for your country

That was in Columbus, Ohio in a 4-0 win against Guatemala in 2016. I came on as a sub in World Cup qualifying, a proud moment. Columbus is a soccer town and their team has done well. I was shocked to get the call. I was 17 and I’d only just come through the ranks at Dortmund and played a couple of games. I was so proud. Two years before I was watching the team in the World Cup and I looked up to those guys. It was a huge honour. I got an email to say that Jurgen Klinsmann was going to call me and he did. He said that he’d been seeing what I was doing in Germany and wanted me to come in. I was in my first little apartment in Germany. I told my dad. We were so happy.

Advertisement

First goal for your country?

Against Bolivia in Kansas City in a friendly before Copa America. I got a nice pass from Darlington Nagbe — he could have shot but he was very unselfish and gave it to me. I ran to the corner to celebrate and my family were there.

The night before, I actually attended my high school prom. It was crazy. I had training with the national team and said to Jurgen Klinsmann, “Can I ask you a crazy question?” I told him that I’d missed out on so much and that all my friends wanted me to go. I knew it was in another city. Jurgen spoke with his wife and agreed to let me go. I flew to Harrisburg straight after training and went to the senior prom at Hershey. I had a long night. I danced the night away and went to a couple of after-parties. You can’t go to a prom and not go to the after-parties. I avoided drinks and then flew back to Kansas the next morning, sleeping on the plane for three hours. I was a bit tired and didn’t start, but I was subbed in at the end and scored!

First trophy with your country

This summer in the Nations League. We played Mexico in the final, an unbelievable game in Denver. Mexico is a big rival and they draw a huge crowd. The stadium was almost full, the atmosphere was excellent.     

First World Cup…

It’s a dream of mine to play in a World Cup finals for my country. I’ve watched them for as long as I can remember in the man cave or my cousin’s house in Virginia where we had a family get-together to watch the games all dressed up in US colours. Remember those Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey goals? Those moments stick with you forever. The whole world is watching. 

It was tough for me when we didn’t qualify for 2018 in Russia. I was in tears after the game when we realised we wouldn’t be going. I wanted it so bad. I still do. Now we’ve started qualifying for the 2022 World Cup — it’s exciting and we’re ready for it. I’ve got experience from the disappointments of four years ago and I will use it.

First media interview?

At Dortmund with their in-house crew. It was strange at first but you get used to it. I was a terrible speaker and didn’t know what to say. I’ve improved. I did my first interviews in English but soon I was doing them in German and that was a whole new ball game. First, you had to think about what you’d say, then you’d have to translate it in your head. My German was good but it still needed work. I still don’t watch my own interviews — I would cringe way too much. 

First player you asked for a selfie

I played against Argentina and we suffered that day. We were 2-0 down at half-time and Lionel Messi was incredible. I came on at half-time thinking, “Oh no, this will be fun.” We lost 4-0. Messi and I were chosen for random doping tests after, so I was sat there next to him trying to be cool, aged 17. I told our doctor to get my phone. I had to get my phone to have a picture taken with him. We couldn’t really communicate and I was too nervous to try and speak to him, but I had to ask him for a photo by gesticulating. He was really nice about the whole thing. He probably gets it a lot, just maybe not in those circumstances…

First time you saw your name on the back of a fan jersey?

Maybe not the first, but my favourite was my first national team experience. I went to a game and saw a whole family wearing ‘Pulisic 10’. I was on the team bus, it was amazing, but I tried to act cool like it happened all the time. Another time, I went to Chipotle in my Dortmund days. There was a guy in the queue with a Dortmund jersey and my name on the back. I was with my cousin. I don’t think he recognised me at first, but once I’d sat down to eat, he did and came to say hello.

Advertisement

First commercial deal

Nike. And then Panini. I don’t do many. Panini is cool for me because I loved collecting player cards and stickers when I was younger. I’d go to garage sales in the neighbourhood to search for rare cards and get rid of some of the ones I kept getting. I was a big hitter – I had a budget of $1 as I hunted for cards. I also had my own binder for each sport. I loved basketball, football and baseball cards… hey, I’m American. I was a big New York Jets fan and wanted their legends. But I also had soccer cards. I collected MLS cards and actually knew some of the players. I would sort players out into my ideal teams from the cards I had. I had a system that only I knew.

Then, a few years later, I saw myself on a card. That was awesome. My brother Chase loves collecting now. He once called me and said: ‘You’re not just on a sticker, you’re on the packet!’ I think he expected me to be inside. Panini now fixes my brother up with some cards, too.

First time at Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham

I was actually there in 2010. I don’t remember it too well but I had a little training session there. I didn’t sign, I guess I wasn’t good enough. When I signed for Chelsea and went to the training ground I was like, “Damn, I remember this place.” I was at the other end of the training ground but remember it and my dad remembered Kevin Campello, the player liaison with Chelsea. He was working with the youth set up back then. We’d met. We’d had a picture.     

First Premier League appearance

There’s always pressure when there’s a price tag on you, but I’d always wanted to play in the Premier League and coming to Chelsea was cool. I was excited to get that jersey.  But we lost that first game 4-0 at Old Trafford. We actually played well and had chances early on. That’s football. I came on and we were already down. Tough day for the team, but it wasn’t a bad place to make my debut…

First hat-trick

First professional hat-trick was at Burnley in October 2019. It was massive for me, even that first goal. I’d been playing well and getting some minutes and I finally got a start. I needed to show that I could be part of the team and everything went my way. Scoring three goals boosted my confidence a lot. People say Burnley is a tough place to play, but when I think of Burnley, I think of scoring three goals there. As I got on the bus to go back home, they played the American national anthem on the speakers. So, I stood and sang it loud and proud as we went through Burnley. Everyone was laughing. A great night for me.      

First long spell on the sidelines

I didn’t play a game for six months in 2020 because of injury and the pandemic. It was very tough for everyone, of course, but I was alone in a new city and couldn’t go out and see people. I started to play chess a lot and learn the guitar. I’m getting better. I stayed in touch with friends and family too. That was important. Then I finally came back in the first game after the re-start against Villa. I was disappointed not to start but I came on, made a difference and scored. Some would say it was a tap-in, I would say I was in the right place at the right time and it was a nervy finish. That gave me a lot of confidence towards the end of the season. 

First FA Cup final

Well, I scored, then got injured and we lost. It was quite the day. I felt like we had momentum at the start but my first sprint after the break saw me get injured. I came off, we had a couple of other injuries and it didn’t go our way. A tough experience but one that made me eager to win the FA Cup. 

First goal in a Champions League semi-final

I always think that if one day if I tell my kids what happened, they wouldn’t believe me. It was at their training ground in the pouring rain with no fans, but it really did happen. I scored against Real Madrid in a Champions League semi-final.  

First Champions League final…

The build-up is so big and nerve-racking. There’s so much hype around it and the anticipation around it is amazing. When the game finally starts you can relax and get into the moment. To celebrate, we had a little celebration with family and friends by the hotel. We didn’t really celebrate it fully, but at least we had some fans in Porto. We saw them driving to the game and in the city. We could hear the fans from the balconies in our hotel room. I like the songs but maybe Chelsea fans need to find something a bit different from just “USA!” for me. I mean it’s great, but they can be a little more creative…   

(Graphic: Getty Images/Sam Richardson)