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Christian Pulisic entered the 2024 Copa America needing to be an influential player for the U.S. men’s national team and the AC Milan star certainly set the tone in Sunday’s group stage opener vs. Bolivia.
Pulisic scored a confident first-half goal before also assisting on the USMNT’s second tally in an eventual 2-0 home victory at AT&T Stadium. The USMNT captain entered the tournament fresh off a stellar first campaign with AC Milan and off of a goalscoring performance against Brazil in last week’s final pre-Copa America friendly.
With a Man of the Match performance already under his belt this summer, Pulisic is showing why he is one of the best in North America.
“He’s a selfless leader,” Berhalter told reporters postmatch. “He goes out and he just competes and works really hard, and that helps the team. And then you add to the fact that he’s highly skilled and he can make plays on the offensive end, it’s a great combination.”
“To me, it was an outstanding performance tonight,” added Berhalter.
Pulisic’s powerful right-footed strike in the third minute boosted the USMNT in front 1-0 and gave them an early confidence boost. After creating room for the shot, Pulisic watched as his 20+ yard effort repelled off the crossbar and into the back of the net, giving him his 30th career USMNT goal.
His set up pass for Folarin Balogun in the 44th minute led to the Americans padding their advantage before halftime, eventually claiming a 2-0 victory on home soil. Pulisic also won half of his individual duels (5/10), made two tackle attempts, and completed two dribbles, working tirelessly on both ends of the field.
After a strong start to his second Copa America involvement, Pulisic remains confident heading into Thursday’s showdown with CONCACAF rivals Panama.
“It’s Copa América, it’s a big tournament,” Pulisic said postmatch. “I feel like I’m always pretty excited after I score, but it’s a big…
Source link : https://sbisoccer.com/2024/06/selfless-leader-christian-pulisic-inspires-usmnt-past-bolivia
Author : Larry Henry Jr
Publish date : 2024-06-24 12:49:01
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