In the wake of Borussia Dortmund’s 3-1 friendly victory over Liverpool on June 22, Reds manager Jurgen Klopp — a longtime admirer of the playing style of 19-year-old American Christian Pulisic — took a moment to discuss the Dortmund phenom. In essence, it was a call for America to wake up and learn how to play soccer.
Last night, some kid named Christian Pulisic decided what better time to light things up than back at home in the U.S. of A. against the Champions League runners-up/the team that has a growing interest in him.
Both born in 1998, France’s Kylian Mbappé and the U.S.’ Christian Pulisic are football superstars who, if both continue being great, will be of yet another generation that redefines the beautiful game. The question is, who’s the better 19-year-old?
The World Cup has less than two weeks left, and I’m just about ready to curl up in a ball and cry in the corner for the next four years until Qatar 2022 rolls around. But alas, noone can stay away from the sport for that long. After the World Cup ends (sad, I know), the attention then becomes on the club scene again, particularly the International Champions Cup schedule.
European teams travel all over the globe for some preseason training camps and friendlies. The biggest set of friendlies, however, often happens in the United States.
After calling time on his professional career back in December at the age of 37, Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky celebrated his 20-year professional career — which included stints with Sparta Prague, Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal — by playing a testimonial match on Saturday featuring a Czech XI and World XI. The likes of Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas, Jens Lehmann and Mathieu Flamini were on show, but it was Rosicky’s young son, Tomas Jr, who stole the show.
In "Masters of Modern Soccer," Grant Wahl talks with some of the world’s best players about how they strive for excellence in a game that continues to demand more of them.
Wahl covers each position with interviews of Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, Christian Pulisic, Xabi Alonso, Vincent Kompany and Maneul Neuer. In addition, he profiles Belgium National Team manager Roberto Martinez and Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc.
The18 spoke with Wahl to learn more about the book and its cast of characters.
Borussia Dortmund hammered top four rivals Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 at the Westfalenstadion on Saturday with goals from 18-year-old Jadon Sancho, Maximilian Philipp and a Marco Reus brace. Christian Pulisic provided the assist on Sancho’s opener after beating three defenders near midfield before playing in the English phenom.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is Pep Guardiola's kryptonite.
The charismatic German has beaten Guardiola more than any other manager — a total of seven victories for Klopp dating back to meetings between the two in the Bundesliga.
This is a remarkable achievement, especially if one considers how dominating Guardiola's teams (be it Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Manchester City) normally are.
It never ends, this churning of prodigious soccer talent at Borussia Dortmund. One minute you’re the Magic Johnson of footballers, the next some 17-year-old Londoner is vigorously nutmegging you to no end in every training session. That, apparently, is the situation facing Christian Pulisic with the emergence of younger-than-thou Jadon Sancho at Dortmund.