![]() “He was always playing up against older kids so I said there was only one thing you can never lose-you always have to play with confidence,” said Mr. He would practice twice a week and play a game on the weekend.”īut as Christian’s skill became obvious and he moved up the ladder of competition, his parents instilled one word into his vocabulary. “I just think what we did differently was made sure that we didn’t put him in a structured environment all the time,” said Mark. But Mark and Kelley Pulisic purposely avoided the temptation to push too hard. I don’t need all this outside tension or whatever.”īecause both of his parents played college soccer at George Mason University, you would expect early pressure, even obsession, to have their kids excel at the game. “Of course, I hear about all the stuff people talk about, the hype and whatever, but I just try to keep it out of my mind as much as I can, because it doesn’t really matter to me. However, like Pugh, Pulisic is grounded with his own expectations. For a five-foot-eight-inch kid from Hershey, Pennsylvania, performing in front of 80,000 loud, demanding German fans against some of the world’s great players could be overwhelming. Signed at age seventeen, he scored his first goal for the senior team that same season. player who is not just on the roster of a top European club but a regular starter and playmaker for Borussia Dortmund, a perennial contender in the German Bundesliga. Other than goalkeepers, Pulisic is the rare U.S. ![]() Unlike Mallory Pugh, the young playmaker on the US Women’s National Team who has female American role models like Hamm, Akers, Foudy, and Wambach to follow, Pulisic is breaking new ground for American men. You have to be hesitant about this but this is a very talented young man.” He’s got exceptional skill, vision, he’s pretty smooth.” Wary of anointing him a savior too early, Arena did inch out on a limb when pressed: “It makes you think that this is going to be perhaps the first American superstar in the sport. “I think he is just a natural,” said Arena. Even Bruce Arena, who’s seen his share of promising prospects in his forty years of coaching at the college, pro, and national team levels, believes in Pulisic. player ever to score in a World Cup qualifier. That night, Pulisic responded brilliantly, scoring two goals and assisting on a third in just twenty-six minutes, making him the youngest U.S. “Ask him now how he feels with that heavy number on his back.” Men’s National Team head coach, handed it to seventeen-year-old Christian Pulisic before a 2016 World Cup qualifier game, he knew the load that was being placed on the young playmaker. The double-edged sword of respect and expectation that comes with the number 10 jersey is reserved for the shoulders of a player that can handle the weight. To no one’s surprise, Messi won the title for the third consecutive year. Indeed, Modric finished tied for third with Neymar for the 2017 World’s Best Playmaker award given by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) based on the votes of soccer experts in ninety-one countries. That’s what he gives to the team when he’s playing well. “I have the best players and we could talk about any of them, but if you ask me about Luka, I have to talk about his calmness with the ball at his feet. It’s his tranquility with the ball,” said Zidane. ![]() ![]() Yet, Zidane, his former manager, lauds him as the linchpin that holds the team together. Luka Modric, a midfielder for Real Madrid who also captains his Croatian national team, is the calming presence in the middle of a team packed with world-class players. Messi and Neymar are known for their goal scoring, but because of that threat they also have become disruptors who sense the open man when defenders flock toward them. While new tactical formations have tinkered with the traditional positioning of a number 10 (no longer anchored to the middle of the field), the symbolism of the team’s most creative playmaker still exists. Past legends Pele, Maradona, Ronaldhino, Totti, and Zidane wore the number 10 shirt, while today’s stars-Messi at Barcelona, Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain, Hazard at Chelsea, and Modric at Real Madrid-have followed in their footsteps. The star forward usually grabs number 9.īut the number 10 jersey carries a legacy and responsibility that is instantly recognizable. Defenders typically wear low numbers, from 2 to 5, while midfielders usually wear 6 through 8. While most sports don’t have a logical order to their uniform numbering (with the exception of American football), soccer has long had an association between jersey numbers and their role on the field. If ever there was a flashing beacon to highlight a team’s top playmaker, it is wearing the number 10 jersey in soccer.
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