England vs USA: Christian Pulisic, the reluctant poster boy ready to take centre stage

Gareth Southgate was reflecting once again on Wayne Rooney, his career, and how hard it is to be that good that young. Southgate was there for the start of Rooney’s England career, when the 17-year-old exploded into Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side, and he knows what that demanded of him.

“It is incredibly hard when you are the person who is expected to deliver,” Southgate said. “Very few people in the world can appreciate what that feels like, very different from run-of-the-mill players like me who just played for England. The world he had to live in and grow up in, he was front and centre of the England team from 17. It is incredible to live your life, grow up in that spotlight, be able to cope with it and excel within it.”

More than 15 years on, there will be one man at Wembley on Thursday who knows exactly how Rooney felt back then. Christian Pulisic is the person expected to deliver for his side. He has been front and centre of the US national team from 17. He has grown up in the spotlight. And now the question is whether he can cope with it and excel within it too.

Pulisic has only just turned 20 but he already has to bare the pressure of experience and excellence in this United States team. He is not just their best player, he could be their best player ever, and it is impossible to have a conversation about what happens next for the US, and how they make up for the failure to reach this year’s World Cup, without thinking about him.

But ever since that traumatic night in Trinidad, more than one year ago, Pulisic has been in the background. It has been a difficult year, with Dave Sarachan staying in permanent charge longer than anyone expected. And Pulisic has only played one game since Trinidad, a gentle 3-0 win over Bolivia in a friendly in May. Now that he is back, he is expected to inspire improvement in the team almost overnight. And coach Sarachan had to insist, in his own Wembley press conference, that Pulisic was not a magic solution for the team.

“Certainly we are thrilled to have Christian a part of it,” Sarachan said. “It raises our level in many ways, on the field and off the field as well. We don't want to put too many expectations on Christian. To think that because we have him now we become a magical group is unfair. But whenever you add quality, it makes us better.”

Expecting Pulisic to make the US magic is indeed unfair. But that is almost the level of expectation he has faced over the years. It is an even lonelier burden than the one Rooney faced when he became England’s big star, because at least he was joining a team full of already-established top players.

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Speaking earlier on Wednesday, Pulisic discussed how much pressure he is under. And how his coping mechanism is not so much to channel that pressure, but simply to ignore it.

“It is not difficult for me. I just don’t deal with it very much. I am not constantly checking articles, or what people are saying on Twitter. I am not looking at any of that stuff. I am focused on what I need to do most of the year. It is not difficult for me to not really worry about the outside noise.”

If Pulisic was fully in tune with media and public expectations then they could overwhelm him, so he would rather just ignore it as far as possible. "I really don’t put that pressure on myself,” he said. “Obviously a lot of Americans do. All I can do is give my best, be a part of this team, be there for the young guys. I mean I’m young too, but just be there for them and help this team to grow and help these guys out."

It might well help the fact that he lives in Germany, far away from his native Hershey, Pennsylvania. But even then he cannot escape these issues, only temporarily evade them. And he rattles off his answers so quickly and confidently he gives the impression that every question he is asked he has faced hundreds of times before. “Every time I come to the national team I am asked questions like this: how does it feel to be the poster boy?”

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Even if Pulisic is reluctant to be the poster boy for American soccer, he cannot stop other people feeling that way about him. Especially his own team-mates. Because Pulisic is not just a player but a story, an example of how a teenager made an unusual move, from Pennsylvania to Dortmund, and in doing so fast-tracked his route to the top of the game. After Pulisic’s move to Germany more youngsters have followed, and he will be joined by Weston McKennie of Schalke 04 and Josh Sargent of Werder Bremen.

For these players, Pulisic is a trailblazer, as well as being a rebuttal to suggestions that American players could not make it at Europe’s top clubs. Pulisic and McKennie have played together all their lives, and Pulisic says it feels like playing for the US Under-14 team again being alongside his old friend for the seniors.

McKennie talks about Pulisic in just as positive terms. “For many of us, he was a big stepping stone for a lot of young players from America,” he says. “Many of us looked at him, and saw it is possible for him to make that move. There are success stories. Before, people looked at American soccer players that went over to these big European clubs, stayed there for a year, and you didn’t hear about them again. He’s one of those players who have shown the positive side of it, how it could turn out if you’re successful. He’s a big inspiration.”

America might get what it needs, more Christian Pulisics. And it could be what Pulisic needs too.