Christian Pulisic taking heat for World Cup dud after Team USA flop vs. Belgium: Always been fragile
The pain that Christian Pulisic fought through for 59 minutes Monday night only served as the precursor to the battering he would take after this USMNT flop.The USA star took hits from every angle after the US’ stunning 4-1 loss to Belgium in the Round of 16 in Seattle, a disappointing end to a World Cup that began with such great hopes.Pulisic, the 27-year-old forward, barely left his mark on the game when it seemed Team USA had a legit chance to make its first quarterfinal since 2002.“You wanted some of those big-time players to step up in big moment.I gotta be honest, I I was a bit disappointed with Christian Pulisic.
I think, whether he wants to be the star of this team or not, we didn’t see enough from him in this particular game, and really the whole World Cup,” former US women’s national team star Carli Lloyd said on Fox after the game.“Little glimpses here and there.” Pulisic is American’s most high-profile player and, fair or unfair, that comes with the burden of carrying the team in the same way other global stars are asked to do.Unfortunately for the AC Milan star, his health didn’t cooperate.He suffered a calf injury in the team’s first Group Stage match against Paraguay, missed the next game against Australia and then returned 13 days later as a reserve against Turkey.Monday night, he “totally twisted” his ankle in the second half with the US trailing 2-1, and Belgium took a two-goal lead moments later.He exited in the 59th minute, finishing his World Cup run with one assist and zero goals.Pulisic lost possession 11 times in 45 minutes Monday, according to ESPNFC’s X account.“This has been the World Cup of stars carrying their teams.
Our alleged star got kicked in the calf, missed a game and a half, made almost zero impact outside of the first half of the first game, and then begged out in the biggest game of his career,” Fox Sports’ Nick Wright wrote on X.“So utterly disappointing.” Built for match days and ...