Original subtitles

You're watching "Pulisic"

presented by Michelob Ultra.

Also presented by Volkswagen.

Pulisic!

What's up?

Why you gonna leave me waiting like that?

- I heard it. I heard it. - What's up, man?

- You doing good? - What's up, man? Welcome.

If you spent any time with Clint Dempsey,

then you know that he cares deeply

about U.S. soccer.

Good ball in, it's Dempsey!

Clint Dempsey is back on the field for the U.S.!

- Hello. How you doing? - Hi.

Have you met my mom?

- I think we've met before. - I think a long time ago.

- How you doing? - This is my girlfriend.

- Hello, how you doing? - Good, how are you?

Which means that he cares about the generation

that came after him as well.

Who's the chess master here?

That's me, man.

- Yeah? - But no one plays against me.

And I think he's probably in a very unique position

to relate to the spotlight and the judgment

that Christian experiences

both from Europe and back home in the U.S.

How you feeling, man?

- I mean... - Yeah. Still young, you--

You don't have the soreness like you do

when you get in your late 30s, that's for sure.

Yeah, well, I don't feel so young anymore.

You're 26, dude.

Still got a lot of years left, another 10.

So if anyone can speak

to some of those pressures, it's Clint.

Once I beat your goal scoring record, then I'll--

Shoot, it ain't gonna take you long to do that.

You already tearing it up, man.

You need to chill out.

Then I'll retire.

I think if you're a Christian,

that has to be everything.

Clint, she just made chocolate chip cookies.

Oh, hell, yeah. I love chocolate chip cookies.

When we used to play together,

he, like, requested your cookies.

Cause I gave him one one time.

Yeah, yeah.

You know, there's always that debate

in American soccer about who is the greatest of all time.

Is it Landon Donovan? Is it Clint?

This is my favorite dessert.

I have to bring this stuff from home, though,

which is always a little bit funny that I have a white bag.

Yeah, they think you're trying to smuggle something over.

I don't know what's going on,

I bring a little white bag of powder.

Christian obviously looked to Clint,

and that was the player that he wanted to emulate.

Watch your head on that light.

The chandelier may or may not have been broken by me.

Oh, yeah.

I may have hit it with a golf club.

Clint is an interesting character.

He is the most competitive man I have ever met.

He's obsessed with golf,

and we certainly hear about it a lot.

Adams, he goes for--

- Oh! Oh... - Oh.

That is absolutely sensational!

So, Nations League final. U.S. beat Mexico.

Doesn't get any better than that.

Christian and Tyler Adams, come and join us on set,

where we've been broadcasting the tournament from.

Have we dragged you guys out the locker room?

Yeah, but I mean,

we were getting sprayed with champagne.

I didn't want to be in there.

And word on the street is that Christian

is a very good golfer.

Hey, I've been seeing you been playing some golf.

We need to set up that match a little bit.

Clint obviously believes that he is a very good golfer.

So the idea that these two,

two of the best players that America has ever produced

should play one another on the golf course

was brought up, and the challenge was thrown out.

- We got a challenge to do. - You trying to get out there?

Oh, yeah.

I slept all the way across the ocean.

Dude, it's pouring out.

I'm in for that. Tyler will be my caddy.

All right, all right. We'll put some money up.

That's a good-- All right, all right.

Put some money. All right--

CBS, come film it.

Heading into this camp,

we knew that the Men's National Team

would have a camp at the same time.

And so Jurgen and I began talking about any opportunities

where we could not only observe the players in training,

but also off the field to mix the players together.

We told them to prepare some questions

and just be themselves

and have lunch with their heroes.

Well, today I got to sit

and eat lunch with the Men's National Team.

And a couple of guys that were at my table

were Kyle Beckerman, Brad Davis,

and it was a really cool experience.

It was just a really fun day.

I think what Christian is going through

since 15, 16 is a different type of educational path.

You mature a lot faster.

It's really cool.

It's been really nice,

and these guys really inspire me,

and I just want to be in their shoes one day,

and it's been-- It's been good.

You know, he experienced a lot

at a very early age,

which is super, super important,

because every experience like this that he had

and every person that he met

made him already stronger.

When you're the main guy,

you like, when people look to you

in those big moments to do something special.

Don't judge our swings, please.

Get the cameras away for the first couple, please.

The first hit is always the worst.

It's what you dream about as a kid when you're like,

you know, you're in a World Cup final

and you got an opportunity to score the game winner.

It's like, these are the moments you dream about as a kid,

and it's like, now you have a chance to make it a reality.

Are you gonna be able to do it or not?

Oh, yeah.

You know, from the beginning...

The battle's begun.

Getting to go and play for the national team

and having someone like Clint there.

It was-- It was really important for me.

Well, that is not shanked.

And not only someone who's been through it,

but someone I looked up to,

someone that I tried to model my game after.

Dang!

He was always someone that would talk to me, and--

I think he saw some of himself in me as well.

All right, amateur, step aside.

Come on, you got the cameras on you.

I know, my-- My knees are shaking.

And still to this day,

he'll help me out and we'll talk, so...

Damn, Gina!

That is crazy.

So, yeah, Clint's always been important to me,

especially in my National Team career.

All right, let's do this.

All right.

I mean, I know what that pressure can be like,

and we all have different ways of dealing with it.

And I think for him, golf is--

It's a way just to relax and kind of get away.

And, you know, maybe it's not playing a full 18 holes.

Maybe it's just being outside

and walking around and kind of forgetting about, you know,

what he has to deal with in the team

and the expectation

and the pressure to perform, you know?

There's a lot of things that come with this-- this life,

and it's just how you handle it.

Yo, are you for real right now?

It's difficult enough to just do well on the pitch

and control what you can control.

And when you have these outside things you have to do,

it's kind of like it's a balancing act.

Oh, no.

It's actually perfect.

Yeah, yeah, actually perfect.

So, I mean, golf is a way to kind of reset,

get a breath of fresh air.

You know, I might have got in over my head.

'Cause, you know, when the next day starts,

you're gonna be back on the grind again.

Off the side of this mountain.

It's not the shot you want on the first hole,

So the only way I can describe it is, like

seeing my younger brother and being proud of him.

Are you kidding me?

Oh, my gosh.

Who birdies the first hole?

Didn't know I was playing with Tiger Woods.

Truly, as a kid,

the National Team was everything for me,

and I wanted it so bad.

Looks pretty good.

Being a part of that team

and being friendly with those guys.

If you told me that 10 years ago,

obviously I wouldn't believe you.

So it's--

Yeah, it's still surreal.

You know, you taking care of me the way you did

in the National Team.

- That's a gimme. - All right,

I give you that, you know what I mean?

I don't care what they say about him. He's all right.

He's definitely a decent golfer.

But I think I had a great day,

and he didn't have his best stuff.

- You won, brother. - Hey.

He didn't even have his club,

so that's his excuse for now.

- That was fun. - It was a pleasure, bro.

- Thanks for coming out. - Thanks for playing.

- What's up, bro? - Good stuff.

I wish I'd have played more golf.

I want to be good after my career.

It'd be cool to go, like, on the Pro-Ams and stuff.

Yeah. And not, like, suck.

CLINT; Like, you're like, scratch.

Yeah.

You hungry?

I'd be down.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

Thanks for joining us today

for this U.S. Soccer press conference.

My first memories of Christian are, like,

being in the camp,

he wasn't really, like, cocky, talking shit.

He was just got his head down, came in there,

let his kind of work speak for itself.

I think he was, like, 17-years old.

He was just gliding past players, like, with ease.

I was like, "Okay, damn."

For me, it's an amazing honor

to be a regular part of this team.

I mean, you know,

kind of being in that playmaker role,

it's just kind of been a style of mine,

how I played most of my life.

And, yeah, it's just amazing to be out there

and just trying to help the team

in whatever way I can and then...

Everybody was waiting for that moment,

now, that he gets his first taste

of the senior national team,

because you just need a couple of training sessions

with him to understand what quality he has.

And then you forget, as a coach, you always forget about age.

You look at a player and you say,

he's good or he's not good,

and he was good.

You know, for me,

getting called up to the national team

and getting to play with those guys

and play under Jurgen, that was exciting.

But, you know, I missed out on so many things,

I think, in my lifetime because of this--

this grind I've been on

in trying to make it in professional soccer,

Missing all of my high school experience,

missing all those dances,

all those moments in school

with some of your friends.

It's a--

It's a lot, man.

You know, normal people have their high school,

hometown, and college friends,

and we had our group of friends in our hometown.

But after our freshman year of high school,

Christian moved out to Florida

to play at the IMG Academy.

And that's where he built

this whole other group of friends,

including Nick and Danny.

We both grew up in Pennsylvania,

about an hour apart from each other,

and we would go to these camps in Philadelphia,

and we were playing a little possession drill,

and I stepped on his foot by accident.

And he turns around and he, like, gives me a look,

and I say, "It's football. Stop being a pussy."

And that was like, one of the first, like,

encounters I remember with him.

He grew up in Pennsylvania.

We played against each other a little bit,

and then we met early on in Youth National Team.

But, man, we weren't always super friendly.

I think we were competitive.

And Danny-- Danny had

kind of this edge to him that, uh,

that I respected, but I did not love the guy out first.

Oh, by the way, for the documentary,

let's introduce my friend Nick.

- What's up, guys? - Nick Taitague.

And then there's my other friend, Nick.

I mean, I think everyone will tell you about Nick.

Nick Tategui, FC Richmond.

We played with each other on the national team.

And I said to my dad after one of the games,

"That guy Nick,

one of the best players I've played with."

You know, Christian, Danny and I,

we just sort of form this bond.

And Christian genuinely wants the best

for the people he cares about.

He wants me to succeed.

You know, I want him to succeed.

And I love being there for those big moments.

And actually, I was there

at the U.S.A. vs Brazil game in Florida,

at the Nike Friendlies

when he had that big moment when he did the LeBron celebration.

I was actually in the corner

as part of the few guys that went to hug him.

It was a big moment.

To this day, they're two of his best friends,

and they've kind of been through it, you know,

with him through thick and thin.

You know, it's funny.

Christian signed his first pro contract at 17,

but he kept in touch with his friends,

and it was prom year for his age.

Christian really wanted to go to prom.

I mean, for him, that was like, the one thing that he's like,

"I really, at least, want to have one experience

to, like, the high school dance."

He thought he might be able to sneak away

after the season at Dortmund and get to the prom.

And I'll never forget Christian talking to my wife

and I and saying, look, "I really want to go to prom,"

but he had a National Team obligation.

And I was just like,

"Well, you're gonna have to ask your coach."

I didn't know how to

kind of take that question from Christian

if he could go to his high school prom,

because I had no idea, what are we talking about?

But, you know, I'm married to an American,

and she knew what this was about.

So I had to ask my wife.

She, within 10 seconds, told me,

"Listen, this is a big deal,

and he has to go to his prom."

So I finished the conversation right there.

Clearly, his wife had a good heart

and saw-- saw it in the same way, so--

Um, I was lucky.

I was lucky to have a coach like that.

I told him, "Just make sure

"that however you come back the next morning,

"come back early in the morning,

that you can catch the training session."

I came on board to start working with Christian in 2016,

and the first job I had

was to find him the private jet to take him to prom.

So I found one and then became the job of convincing Mark.

You see, I'm known in the family as the cheap guy.

So at 17, to get a private jet

And spend what was it, 30, 40, 50 grand?

It's just insanity.

Mark described himself as cheap.

Mm-hm.

Did you say that's an accurate description?

I'd say that's-- that's-- That's very accurate.

I was probably sick to my stomach about it,

But, you know, the timing was crazy.

He wouldn't have been able to take a commercial flight.

So, you know, I--

held back and said, this is something he wants.

So, um,

But, yeah, sticker shock.

I mean, I think it's nuts.

I mean, looking back on it,

honestly, I'm thinking, what on earth was I doing?

But at the same time, you know,

there's some benefits to-- to doing this

and having the opportunity to do something like that.

I mean, that was new to me.

That was the first private jet I'd ever been on.

I went straight from training the day before the game,

made it for the evening there.

Prom, flew straight back in the morning

in time for the game.

I didn't miss anything. I didn't even miss a training.

I was able to make it back the day of the game

and still able to play.

Who was your prom date?

My prom date was Grace Bruggemeier.

Shout out, Grace.

Hi.

Welcome.

This is my prom date.

Her and some of our Hershey friends

actually just visited Dan and me here on Milan.

There's no ships like friendships,

Whoo!

So we've stayed friends through it all.

We gotta do that.

Yeah--

I think it can be easy to forget

with a player like Pulisic,

who at that point was already pretty competent on the field,

you know, playing well above his age.

And it was like one of those rare moments

where you're sort of reminded of a player's age

and it is a little heartwarming, honestly,

to see somebody competing at that level

and then still whisked away to do something, I guess,

universally relatable

to any of us who went to high school, you know?

Maybe it's not relatable to get whisked away

in a private jet to your prom.

Christian Pulisic flies on a private jet to prom,

hops back on that same jet,

touches down with the U.S. Men's National Team,

and says, "You know what?"

"Tonight sounds like a good night to make history."

Nagby for Jones.

Darlington Nagby.

Long story short, the next day,

they flew him back to Kansas City,

and that's when he scored his first goal

for the U.S. National Team.

He's gonna set it for Christian Pulisic!

The youngest American in the modern era

of the U.S. National Team to score a goal.

17 years of age.

I can't remember what I did the day after my prom.

Waking up on an air mattress somewhere,

hungover off two hard lemonades

or something like that, you know?

So I think he had probably a better go of it than I did.

All worth it.

All worth it now. So, uh... Yeah.

Well, you want a glimpse at the future?

Take a look at this.

So straight away, right, you're 17,

you win over some of the senior players in the team,

you start to get some respect early on

but then reality sets in.

The United States of America

up against Argentina

in this Copa America semi-final here in Houston.

Jurgen should have played you more,

especially in the semifinal.

There's no way you shouldn't have started

that game versus Argentina.

Yeah, it was tough, man,

going on at halftime of that game, man,

was it already like 2 or 3-0?

It was bad, that's all I gotta say.

- It was tough. - It was not good.

Messi.

Oh, absolutely astounding.

Honestly, I'll never forget watching that game,

like, from the bench, though, that first half,

like what Messi did.

- And, yeah, that free kick. - That was--

And I had doping with him after the game.

That worked out, man, there you go.

Get you a jersey or anything?

- I took a picture. - You got a photo?

I remember, though, you didn't have your phone

and you had to beg someone to get that.

You're, like, trying to be nonchalant,

Yeah.

You know, in the run up

to the 2018 qualifying cycle,

the U.S. is led by Jurgen Klinsmann.

He's an incredibly polarizing figure.

You know, I mean, in good ways and in bad ways, obviously.

He really pushed the U.S. Program to modernize,

to look at dual nationals, all these sorts of things.

He was also wildly unpopular with fans.

But at the end of the day, only the results matter.

The final leg of the journey

towards the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

The World Cup comes around once every four years.

So it's not like if you miss a World Cup,

you say, "Oh, you know what, there's next year."

No.

It is the beginning

of a ten-game hexagonal final round

stretching through next fall.

You don't know when your next opportunity

is going to come, but since 1990,

the U.S. has qualified for seven straight World Cups.

Dos Santos able to win that ball off of Bradley.

The shot is in!

Through traffic! Mexico have the lead!

But it's called World Cup qualifying for a reason.

You still got to go through a grueling

qualifying process to get there.

And it finishes. Mexico, 2, United States, 1.

World Cup qualifying it's grueling, it's not easy.

It's a marathon, not a sprint.

But normally it's a rather smooth ride for the U.S.

But I just remember

a lot of things happening

where I thought, you know,

this may not go like we think it's gonna go.

Costa Rica and the U.S. it is Match Day 2.

Here you see an exciting generational type talent.

This is the future of U.S. soccer.

I want to see him in a World Cup at 18.

And this cycle starts off as bad as it possibly could.

Near post hitter, goal.

The team wasn't exactly fully together.

Ball in and he beats Guzan for two.

There were things happening.

Costa Rica now up by three.

We didn't have much.

Looking for four.

He's got it!

The United States being ripped apart.

Two straight losses, and the U.S. find themselves

sitting at the bottom of the table.

Huge news in the sport. Juergen Klinsmann out

as U.S. National Team head coach and technical director.

The timing is certainly interesting

because the U.S. is into the final round

of World Cup qualifying.

Is this the right call?

It's the right call. It is.

It's a difficult call, but the right one.

It's the hex.

And this is getting down to crunch time.

You know, the wheels were coming off

and obviously I was hired at a time

where the national team

lost their first two games in qualifying.

It was a difficult moment

and U.S. Soccer made the decision and

and contacted me about taking over again,

which I did.

And I think 2017 was a really good year.

Bruce Arena is, bar none,

the greatest men's coach in the history of American soccer.

If you look at what he did in the college ranks,

if you look at what he did in MLS, obviously,

he's arguably the most successful coach, you know,

in the history of the United States Men's National Team.

It's just not even an argument.

He's kind of the GOAT.

With the urgency we have in March,

we're gonna be trying to, you know,

make the right kind of evaluations

in order to try to evaluate who can help us in March.

I obviously respect what Bruce Arena has done

as a national team coach,

so he'd had an incredible record up until that point

and I think bringing him back was interesting

and he gave me the opportunity,

he gave me the freedom to play.

The United States set to take on Honduras.

The message from Bruce Arena,

get after them from the opening whistle.

Let's be a team tonight.

I'll never forget in a game against Honduras

when I was starting in the number 10 position

and I'm just looking around and I'm like--

Michael Bradley, he's captain

and there's Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore.

It's a veteran-laden squad

that Bruce Arena has called in

and they plan to set the tone early.

Four years before that

I was watching them play in a World Cup

and now I'm starting and I'm playing with them

in a qualifying match.

It was like-- I couldn't believe it.

For Pulisic, off of Beckeles' chest.

Dempsey trying to ride Henry Figueroa.

Clint Dempsey is back on the field for the U.S.!

Back to score big goal.

Growing up in the States,

truly, like, the biggest thing for me

was playing in a World Cup.

Finding Pulisic, he's onside!

Christian Pulisic!

Get that hype train moving!

We are seeing a star born right before our very eyes.

Pulisic threading the needle.

Dempsey, a touch around Escober.

It is five!

Can you believe this?

To be on the field

and starting and playing with these guys

and assisting Clint Dempsey,

I mean, um, it was just a dream for me.

It is a record-breaking win for the United States

in the final round of World Cup qualifying.

Christian Pulisic, a goal, two assists.

Dempsey, a hat trick.

United States 6, Honduras 0.

Christian, Mike-- Come back in full.

My whole motivation in 2017

was to qualify the team for the World Cup.

But it was a little bit of an awkward time for U.S. Soccer.

They'd already played two qualifying games

and we knew as a coaching staff in 2017

if we qualify for the 2018 World Cup

we were gonna have to make a lot of changes to the roster.

Christian comes in as a--

as a talented player but a quiet kid,

18-years old and he's still trying to find his place.

But by the end of the year he was our leading goal scorer

and was the U.S. Soccer Player of the Year.

Under the guidance of Bruce Arena,

we start to see some change in results.

Pulisic in the box.

Pulisic at the six,

squares, shot, Dempsey, goal!

It's not always smooth and it's not always consistent.

The United States, a point in Panama.

But through the chaos, I remember Christian putting in

a wonderful performance.

He lost his angle, cutting it back.

Yedlin cross!

Is stabbed in for the opening goal tonight

from Christian Pulisic!

He played really well and didn't seem at all

like the moment was too much for him.

Altidore, Pulisic continues

running down and behind--

Christian Pulisic!

He was one of the main guys.

The goals and assists that he had had

during the qualifying process,

if he didn't have, I mean,

we wouldn't even have been in that-- that situation.

What can't this kid do?

They start to rise in the table

and seems as though we're on the right track.

Chicharito being harassed.

Bradley's gonna escape from Herrera.

Bradley tried to chip Ochoa!

And he scores!

Michael Bradley!

So it was a pretty up and down qualifying cycle.

Ureña is in here,

he can finish this argument.

I think he has that!

Costa Rica two, and the U.S.A. in shreds tonight.

For whatever reason, we were struggling to really produce

and you could kind of see how things are going.

And partly you have this feeling of,

did we leave it too late?

The United States, maybe a bit of trepidation

as they step out onto the field,

fully aware of the situation.

Clint Dempsey creates

and it's knocked home by Bobby Wood.

And the United States will settle for the point.

And at the end of it, the U.S. find themselves

in a situation with two games to go

where they control their own destiny.

Get two results

and you find yourself in the World Cup.

You know, in that game against Panama,

I remember thinking, "It's gonna be Christian."

"If we're gonna qualify in this tournament

"and things are gonna go how we want,

this young kid's gotta play way beyond his years."

...Pulisic.

Can he get away here? It's Pulisic!

He's gonna score surely! Is he?

Yes, he has!

Solo goal!

U.S.A. lead!

The Panama game goes about as good as can be expected.

Christian's on the score sheet,

Everyone's happy, everyone's celebrating.

Here is Pulisic!

And Altidore!

Two-nil!

The momentum is starting to be back in our favor

and there's a lot of optimism about

what to expect in the next match.

Yeah, Panama went well.

We walked out of there with a 4-0 result.

But you still have to take care of business in Trinidad

and, you know, uh, that game goes how it goes.

In the end, it came down to the last game.

But you know, World Cup campaigns,

they are never a given.

There's never a place

that's just handed out to you by divine right.

The U.S. National Team was sweating ahead

of their crucial clash

with Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow night.

Not about their opposition as much

as the playing surface at the Ato Boldon Stadium.

I remember us going

to do our normal pre match training

and the field was just flooded.

Guys were taking different methods

to get onto the field that day, right?

And you could see that we were lighthearted in a good way.

You know, you can see in a way, though,

that the team was not prepared

for what was going to happen.

It's just a truly remarkable moment

in Men's U.S. Soccer history.

Clint is at the very end of his career

with the U.S. National Team.

He's hoping for one last moment

on sport's grandest stage.

Christian is the youngest player on the team

and the future hope for U.S. soccer.

They gotta be able to finish this off.

No, Stevie?

If they don't finish this off,

then this, uh, pff--

U.S. have absolutely no excuse

not to go there and get three points.

The United States on the verge

of what would be their eighth straight World Cup

and only Trinidad and Tobago in their way.

Yeah, of course, the field and the water

was flooded the day before,

so we couldn't really train.

But to be honest, I had a good feeling going into the game.

There was no scent of fear on the horizon.

We had no idea what was coming for us.

The U.S. knows all they have to do is not lose.

Play for the draw.

But sometimes that can be dangerous.

You're one game away, one draw away,

you're one point away from achieving a goal

that would make you the youngest player

in U.S. Men's National Team history

to suit up for your national team in a World Cup.

I was pretty confident

and I feel like the team was too,

but I just-- I truly feel like

everything that could go wrong in that game went wrong.

Driven across towards the penalty spot,

tips up and it loops over Tim Howard

and Trinidad and Tobago in front.

The U.S. goes into that game

knowing that even if they lose,

they could qualify, right?

There are other matches in the region going on

and everybody's keeping an eye on those.

But none of them went the U.S.'s way.

And all of a sudden you have this completely bizarre,

unthinkable thing happening

with all the other results that lined up.

It just like-- It was ridiculous.

We were behind the eight ball

and the guys fought real hard,

but you know, we gave up two of the oddest goals,

an own goal and a goal scored

from probably 35 yards out.

A long distance blast!

And it's Alvin Jones!

One for the legend books.

Oh, my.

It was-- It was really tough, you know,

the two goals that we let in.

And then it was 2-0 at half.

I mean, it was definitely a shock to our system.

It was like, "Wow, this is-- this is real."

Now we gotta come in and change something.

And I just kept telling myself,

"It's gonna happen, it's gonna happen."

Clint Dempsey making his 141st appearance

and looking for what would be a record 58th goal

and, boy, could the U.S. use it.

I was out for a few games with the heart issue that I had.

I had to get two ablations done

and I was put into like a super sub role,

which I wasn't really thrilled about it,

because I thought I should have been on the field,

especially with what I'd done in the past.

And I always look back on that moment like, damn, bro.

Because for me and some of the veterans,

it was kind of it.

Well, this game is just screaming

for a hero for the United States.

But at the same time,

Christian having that dream

of wanting to play in the World Cup,

he was out there taking the team on his back

and just trying to make something happen.

Pulisic, across,

headed down, slapped away!

And you saw on this night in the heat,

this poor kid just started to get

more and more frantic.

Did everything that he could do.

Scored a goal.

Falls for Pulisic!

And he lifts it up and over Foncette.

Wonder Boy strikes again.

And we were fighting.

We gave everything and got that goal.

And I was like, "All right, this is-- this is it."

The U.S. needed something

to go their way and why not Christian Pulisic?

This is the moment that's gonna spark something

and we're gonna get that next goal.

Blasted low. Tapped off the post!

Dempsey, the shot-- Tapped away by Foncette!

We were scrambling and--

and we fought and we fought

and gave everything that we have.

Final seconds.

All eyes and ears on Juan Carlos Guerra, the referee.

That was crazy. That was definitely crazy,

but we just didn't have enough.

It just wasn't enough at the end.

The whistle, it's done!

It's over!

It is over.

And the United States eliminated

for the first time since 1986.

Unbelievable.

To think about Christian in that moment,

his hands on his knees, his shirt over his face.

He became almost the-- the totem of that night.

At the end of the game,

just watching him on the ground like,

what-- what a horrible--

horrible feeling.

Just feeling that pain for your child.

I mean, you always feel for your child

when they're hurt, mentally, emotionally.

Just-- You can't fix that.

He gave his heart during that cycle, and he was young,

but one of his biggest dreams

was to play in a World Cup

and to have every other result, plus your result,

go the way that no one thought it would go.

It was tough on Christian.

I would imagine,

that's pretty hard to forget, huh?

Well, how could you forget it?

Because any stories about U.S. soccer,

they keep posting the picture of him crying on the field,

Which is--

Needs to go.

It's not just about tonight.

Every single one of those players,

nightmares for the rest of their lives,

because this is an utter embarrassment.

I remember just being heartbroken.

For-- for him, for myself.

I just felt like, you know, you let millions

and millions of people down, right?

It's a feeling that's really indescribable

in terms of emotions, in terms of everything.

We can't be Trinidad

on a field that's too wet and too heavy?

What are we doing?

What are we doing?

I think when you look at what happened in 2017,

and you consider where Clint was in his career

and where Christian was at the time,

there's a crossing over of the generations

and two of the best players to ever do it

in the American jersey,

and that moment is really, ultimately,

a passing of the baton.

It was such a bad moment for U.S. soccer,

one of the worst moments.

But, I mean, I was 34 at the time,

and I remember talking to Christian and being like,

"It's your team moving forward.

You're gonna have to take it to another level."

You know, like,

"You're the man now, bro."

♪ Carry on, my wayward son ♪

♪ There'll be peace when you are done ♪

♪ Lay your weary head to rest ♪

♪ Don't you cry no more ♪

♪ Once I rose above the noise and confusion ♪

♪ Just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion ♪

♪ I was soaring ever higher ♪

♪ But I flew too high ♪

♪ Though my eyes could see, I still was a blind man ♪

♪ Though my mind could think, I still was a madman ♪

♪ I hear the voices when I'm dreaming ♪

♪ I can hear them say ♪

♪ Carry on, my wayward son ♪

♪ There'll be peace when you are done ♪

♪ Lay your weary head to rest ♪

A ♪ Don't you cry no more ♪

♪ Carry on ♪

♪ You will always remember ♪

♪ Carry on ♪

♪ Nothing equals the splendor ♪

♪ Now your life's no longer empty ♪

♪ Surely Heaven waits for you ♪