Christian Mate Pulisic is an American professional football player who plays for Premier League club,
Chelsea, and the United States Men’s Team. Pulisic started his senior professional
career at an early age of 16 at German club Borussia Dortmund. And now, at just 22 years,
he is already a Champions League winner and the captain of his national team.
Pulisic was known by quite a number of football fans when he was at Dortmund, but his fame
skyrocketed when Chelsea spent a lot of money to acquire the young American’s services in 2019.
So, yeah, you probably know Christian’s face and what he can do on the field of play, but
in this video, we will be telling you 10 things you probably didn't know about Captain America.
1. He is the most expensive footballer from North America
In January of 2019, Chelsea paid 73 million dollars to German club,
Borussia Dortmund, for the services of Christian Pulisic. That made him not
only the most expensive football player in the history of the United States,
but also the most expensive player ever from the North American continent.
2. He has Croatian ancestry
If you were thinking the name Pulisic did not sound very American, well, you are right,
because it indeed does not have American origin. Christian’s grandad was Croatian
and the name Pulisic was derived from Pula, a city in Croatia.
Christian himself acquired Croatian citizenship as a teenager after moving to Germany. And so,
he was eligible to play for the Croatian national team. But obviously,
he turned that down to play for the USMT. And well, you can say that that paid off
for him as he has gone on to lead his team to an international trophy win.
3. Youngest ever USMT captain
In March 2016, Pulisic made his debut for the United States Men’s Team in a
World Cup qualifier against Guatemala. With that,
he became the youngest American ever to feature in a World Cup qualifying game.
2 years later, in a friendly game against Italy, Christian wore the captain’s armband
for the United States for the first time. And at just 20 years & 63 days,
he became the youngest player to ever captain the USMT.
He went on to captain his national team to a trophy in 2021, scoring the winning
goal in the final of the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League tournament against Mexico.
So, his Captain America nickname makes a little more sense now, doesn’t it?
4. Youngest non-German scorer in Bundesliga
On April 17, 2016, in a Bundesliga game against Hamburg, Pulisic scored Dortmund’s first goal of
the game and his first ever Bundesliga goal. With that goal, he became the youngest ever
player not from Germany to score in the German top flight. He was 17 years, 212 days old.
That same goal also made him the fourth youngest
footballer from any nationality to score in a Bundesliga game.
5. Youngest player to score 2 Bundesliga goals
Just a week after Pulisic scored his first Bundesliga goal,
he went on to score again against VfB Stuttgart in another Bundesliga game.
This goal made him the youngest ever player to record 2 goals in Bundesliga history.
6. Dortmund’s youngest UCL scorer
18 years, 5 months, 18 days. That is how old Christian Pulisic was when he scored
his first ever UEFA Champions League goal. He would go on to score more important goals
including a semi-final goal for Chelsea against Real Madrid in the 2020/21 season
that saw Pulisic and his teammates lift the Champions League trophy.
He scored his first UCL goal for Dortmund in the 59th minute of the second leg
of a round of 16 tie against Portuguese side, Benfica. And that goal made him
Borussia Dortmund’s youngest ever goalscorer in the Champions League.
Dortmund went on to win that game
4-nil with Pulisic also assisting one of Aubameyang’s 3 goals.
7. Youngest player to score a hat trick for Chelsea
Just 2 months after his Chelsea debut, Pulisic scored a hat trick for Chelsea in a Premier
League game against Burnley. That hat trick was the American’s first ever career hat trick.
With that, he became the youngest ever player in history to score a hat trick for his new club,
Chelsea. He was 21 years, 38 days old at the time.
What made the hat trick a bit more spectacular was that
it was a perfect hat trick. What this means is that he scored 1 goal with his right foot,
1 with his left, and 1 with his head. This was the first perfect hat trick
a player had scored for Chelsea since Ivorian legend Didier Drogba in 2010.
That same hat trick also made Captain America only the second ever American player to score
a hat trick in the English Premier League. The first was Clint Dempsey in 2012.
8. First American to score in an FA Cup final
Pulisic started in the 2020 FA Cup final against Arsenal on August 1,
and scored the opening goal just 5 minutes into the game. With that goal,
he became the first American ever to score in an FA Cup final game.
Pulisic was later subbed off due to an injury he sustained during the game.
And Arsenal star Pierre Emerick Aubameyang went
on to score twice in either half of the game to help Arsenal clinch the trophy.
9. First American to play in a Champions League final
With his goal and assist against Real Madrid in either leg of the 2021 semi-final,
Pulisic helped Chelsea to their first UEFA Champions League final in 9 years.
In the 66th minute of the final against Manchester City,
he was brought in to replace German forward Timo Werner.
That made him the first ever American footballer to play in the UEFA Champions League final.
Chelsea went on to win the game, and as a result,
the trophy, making him the second ever American to win a Champions League.
The first was Joran Kirovski with Pulisic’s former club, Borussia Dortmund.
10. Forbes 30 Under 30
In 2020, Pulisic made the list of Forbes 30 under 30. And at just 21 years of age, he was the
youngest person on that list. He was also the only male football player to make the list that year.
Well, there you have it! 10 facts about Christian Pulisic that you probably didn’t know
before now. And well, if there is only one thing this video has shown, it is that the
American superstar has quite a lot of records under his belt. For his clubs,
his national team, and even in the Champions League and Bundesliga. And he is only just 22!
Perhaps Marvel could look into giving him yet another record by making him the first
ever football star to play Captain America. We would all love to see that, won’t we?
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