UNITED STATES The head coach of the male national team Mauricio Pochettino said Christian Pulisic should be the Lionel Messi United States because of its talent and recognition.
“I think that Christian last year has shown high quality. He performs in Europe, he also performs with the national team. He is a very talented player who can help us win,” said Pochettino by speaking on the podcast “Soccer not filtered” with the old Standoud Usmnt Landon Donovan and Tim Howard.
“You say that people compare Messi with Christian Pulisic. I do not want to be disrespectful towards Messi or Pulisic, but I think that in this country, Pulisic should be our Messi, because he is an emblematic player. Children on the street certainly if you ask a football player in this country, it’s Pulisic.”
Pulisic, 26, is an integral part of the USMNT, recording 32 goals and 18 assists in 76 appearances since he made his senior team debut in March 2016. He took the role of captain several times, and led the team to the Trophies 2019-20, 2022-23 and 2023-24, the trophies of the League of Concacaf.
At the club level, Pulisic represented Borussia Dortmund,, Chélat And now AC Milan. He comes statistically the most successful club season in his career with 17 goals and 12 assists in all competitions.
Despite the active role he plays on the team, Pulisic decided, in collaboration with the American Football Federation, so as not to join the USMNT for two June friendly games and the Cup After an exhausting season in Europe. Pochettino defended Pulisic’s decision to monitor the key, confirming that the two press releases before the decision was made public.
“Christian is a very nice guy, is very attached to the national team and he wants to help and of course is desperate to play in the (2026) World Cup and arrive in the best condition,” said Pochettino.
“All these conversations we take with the players, I think it was the best decision to help him because each player is in different circumstances.”
Pulisic is part of the list of experienced USMNT players who will not appear in the Gold Cup 2025, including Antonee Robinson,, Timothy Weah,, Weston McKennie,, Giovanni Reyna And Yunus Musah.
Despite these absences, Pochettino stressed that each American player should desperately want to play for the national team.
“People have to prioritize the national team,” said Pochettino. “We were talking about Argentinian players, Brazilian players or English players or Spanish players, they are desperate. Even Messi, even Neymareven (kylian) Mbappé for FranceThese guys are desperate to go to the national team.
“For them, when they leave, they do not see if it is a friendly game, if it is an official game, it is a World Cup – it does not matter, because the possibility of defending once more your flag, your shirt. It is about to feel proud. And it is the responsibility to translate us.”
The USMNT will face Türkiye And Swiss in friendly matches before taking Haiti,, Trinidad and Tobago And Saudi Arabia in group D of CONCACAF gold cup.