Christian Pulisic is trying to stay as “level grounded” as he can, as the United States men’s national team prepares for its World Cup soccer qualifier.
On Friday, the United States will play host to Costa Rica in the fifth round of the 2018 qualifiers at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. This will mark the first time the U.S. men will play a significant game for the World Cup in the metropolitan area.
While fans are getting psyched up for the match, which is set to kick off Friday at 6:55 p.m., if there is one player on the American team that understands that kind of hype, it’s Pulisic. The 18-year-old has been called the future of U.S. soccer after breaking onto the scene only a year ago.
While at a Tuesday press conference for the game at the NYCFC House in the Meatpacking District, Pulisic was asked for his thoughts on the hype that has surrounded him.
“Of course I hear about all this stuff people talk about, this kid, that there’s hype, whatever,” Pulisic said. “But I just try to keep it out of mind as much as I can, because that doesn’t really matter to me. I put enough pressure on myself, I don’t need all this outside attention or whatever like that. I’m just trying to do the best I can for myself and the people around me.”
Pulisic said he is very happy with the way he has performed over the last year, but admitted his rise to stardom has been overwhelming.
“For me, everything happened a little bit too fast,” he said. “Of course the past year has been a roller coaster, being able to play at a club level, at a high level. Then getting called into the national team, it’s amazing.
“But I’m just trying to stay as level grounded as I can, you know, finding the balance. I’m just honored that I’m here, and so quickly I’m able to represent my club and my country.”
Nevertheless, Pulisic said he knows the hard work does not stop here. The midfielder continues to focus on areas of his game that need to improve.
“I think I have a lot thing to improve on,” Pulisic said. “First just growing physically, being stronger. And just continuing to improve on doing what I do best, going at defenders, finding new ways to attack defenses, and help my team on the offense side.”
With only a few days until the match, Pulisic will have to focus on what he does best now to help to the United States reach the World Cup next summer in Russia. That means “going out there and being creative and being dangerous. Just always keeping the defender on their toes with that attacking style.”