Christian Pulisic named U.S. Soccer's male player of the year for fourth time
"Captain America" has now won the award as many times as the legendary Landon Donovan
U.S. Men's National Team and AC Milan forward Christian Pulisic is on the precipice of history.
On Thursday, he added U.S. Soccer's 2023 Male Player of the Year award to his trophy case after earning the honor in 2017, 2019 and 2021. Pulisic is now tied with Landon Donovan for the most wins by a USMNT player.
"If you're joining Landon on anything regarding the national team, you're doing something right," Pulisic said via ESPN. "He's a legend. I looked up to him, so I'm grateful to be in that conversation. I'm hoping to continue to push, and hopefully it will not be the last."
.@pulisic with a SCREAMER to open the scoring 😱 pic.twitter.com/KlG0oMeNPm
— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) October 14, 2023
The winger received 53% of the vote after a successful year on the pitch for both AC Milan and the USMNT.
Pulisic beat fellow AC Milan and USMNT teammate Yunus Musah, who received 21.5% of the vote, and Ricardo Pepi, who finished third with 12.9% of the vote. Pepi and Musah were winners of the U.S. Young Soccer Player of the Year award in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
In December, Pulisic was named Series A's player of the month after he scored six goals and recorded five assists to help AC Milan (13-3-4) to third in the standings.
Pulisic had his footprints all over the success the USMNT enjoyed last year, too. In June, he helped the Americans defeat Canada 2-0 in the CONCACAF Nations League title. The U.S. will be looking for more big things from Pulisic during the 2024 Copa America, which the United States will host this summer, after "Captain America" helped the team qualify in 2023.
"It's an honor to win this award again for the fourth time," Pulisic said. "It was an incredible season for me. I always enjoy playing with the national team and winning more trophies with the national team. Of course, coming here to AC Milan, it's been just a really exciting year. I've enjoyed it so much, so I'm really grateful to win an award like this."
