Christian Pulisic learned hard but valuable lesson in Panama
In his nascent yet meteoric career, American 18-year-old wunderkind Christian Pulisic has already been through a few tough away games with his club Borussia Dortmund. Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena is one of the sport’s fortresses. And even at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu, Pulisic excelled.
But on Tuesday, the boundary-break midfielder played in an away venue that was challenging for wholly different reasons. Because the United States men’s national team’s CONCACAF opponent Panama would have no mercy at all on the teenager, kicking and knocking into him at every opportunity, with no interference from an unsympathetic referee.
[ Follow FC Yahoo on social media: Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr ]
If Bayern and Real offered lessons in staying upright in the wilting pressure of club soccer’s cathedrals, Panama gave an impromptu class in suffering through a night in CONCACAF throughout the sides’ 1-1 tie in World Cup qualifying.
Pulisic spent a lot of time on the ground, peeling himself off the bumpy field and pleading angrily with referee Cesar Arturo Ramos, frustrated at the Mexican’s unwillingness to put an end to the punishment.
But Pulisic, as with any test thrown at him in his young national team career, delivered regardless, setting up Clint Dempsey’s goal, twice coming close himself and serving up a chance for Jermaine Jones. In fact, the U.S. had nary a chance all night that Pulisic, operating from the flank, had nothing to do with.
Nonetheless, the continuous physicality from Panama’s bodybuilder-shaped defenders seemed to unsettle him initially. In his emotional reactions at least, albeit not in his play.
“It was a good lesson for him,” U.S. head coach Bruce Arena said. “That’s something you can’t explain to him. You’ve got to be in it. It was an invaluable experience.”
“I think Panama thought there was a bullseye on his back and they went in against him from minute one, all the way through,” Arena added. “He has to learn the referee is not going to protect him and deal with it. He did well. He created our goal and in the second half was a part of some plays that may have created a second goal.”
If nothing else, CONCACAF is known for its daunting cauldrons and permissive refereeing. And when you’re well on your way to becoming the best player in the region, it’s an inevitability that you’ll take your lumps in the away games in World Cup qualifying.
Pulisic may come to privately loathe these road tests for the punishment he will invariably be subjected to – and that would be perfectly understandable. But surviving and thriving despite of these obstacles is very much a part of the skillset required in order to star for the U.S. national team.
For years, Landon Donovan was provoked and tackled and jostled on the road in Central America and Mexico. He simply had to come to terms with it. Pulisic will, too.
Arena figures Pulisic is well-equipped to withstand it.
“He plays in a big league with a big club team in big competitions,” he said. “It’s all part of the process. Probably in club play, the players are a little bit more protected than they are in World Cup qualifying. So it’s all part of the learning curve. The next time around will be better for him.”
On Tuesday, the beatdown Pulisic received hardly slowed him down. He turned in the best performance of anybody on either team regardless. If he indeed gets “better” at adjusting to the environment than giving the key assist and creating every American chance, the fevered hype surrounding the Hersey, Pa., native will be justified yet again.
Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.
