Original subtitles

You're watching "Pulisic"

presented by Michelob Ultra.

Also presented by Volkswagen.

Pulisic!

Should I just do it like a big throw?

- Yeah. - Like, short.

Okay, ready? One, two, three.

You missed it.

Did you hit it?

I hope so.

You know, it's a long season,

and playing far away in Italy, it can get lonely sometimes.

But I'm lucky because my family visits me a lot.

They get to experience this with me.

They get to see a lot of games.

Big match tonight.

Stomach's tangled in knots.

Is it because of the match or the Pulisic sandwich?

Both.

And we get to travel around Europe

and see a lot of cool places.

When in Rome...

We're in Rome.

The last time I was here was with my dad and Christian.

Christian had a U16 U.S. versus Croatia.

To be able to see him play in Croatia,

it was awesome.

A bit of a homecoming.

I mean, of course, it's given us a great life,

but it's also just given us

so many moments together as a family.

Obviously, the game has brought us so much joy.

And just growing up, you know,

my sister playing, me playing,

and my parents both kicking the ball around with us in the yard.

Goal!

I mean, those are moments that I'll never forget.

And now it's led to them flying out

and watching me play in the Champions League final,

in World Cups, you know, now in Italy.

Yeah, it's connected our family always,

and it's just a sport we love

and something that we can bond over, you know,

for, you know, the rest of our lives.

If you're wondering who Harlow is,

that's Christian Pulisic's mother.

Milan players tonight

will be wearing the surnames of the women

that brought them into this world.

I'm excited, but also a little bit nervous.

Like, whoo.

A featured view from the Milan.

It's served up by yours truly.

He's made a difference.

That's a good ball.

Joao Felix and Pulisic!

He scores again.

How many times have they done that this season?

Milan, they turn the game around.

My mom's the most selfless person

I've ever met.

She's everything that a mom should be.

And, yeah, she's special to me.

That was for mom. That was for mom.

The way she cares for me,

the way she doesn't care

if I have the worst game of my life.

The text that I get after the game

is gonna be exactly the same.

And it says she loves me, and that's all that matters.

Did you score that goal for your mom?

Yeah.

Honey.

He loves his mama.

So if you're a player like Christian Pulisic,

then competing is everything.

Expectations for yourself and from your fans and the team

are that you are always ready for the next fight.

Lots of ifs and buts and maybes.

Lots of questions to be answered tonight.

Milan, one of the most storied teams in this competition,

want a place in that top eight.

You avoid all sorts if you can go directly through.

He's a star of both his national team

and club team in Italy.

Even at the best of times,

you're often getting out of one conflict

and you're going right into the next.

And this season,

AC Milan has gone anything but according to plan.

With a slip there!

Oh, Dinamo has the lead!

Milan in peril.

There was so much turmoil in this season,

and Milan just kept finding

creative ways to hurt themselves.

The emotion is all tumbling Milan's way,

goes from bad to desperate.

Their mission was to get back into the Champions League,

but the way that they dropped points

against teams they should be beating,

it's left them on the outside looking in.

Many thought this should be

a routine night for Milan.

It has turned into anything but.

What drama.

It was a horror show of a season for the club,

but Christian was one of its few bright spots.

Cleverly done for Pulisic.

There's the equalizing goal.

Absolutely priceless.

He wants the team to do well, and he puts their performance

and the team's well-being above his.

So if you're a serious competitor,

then it always-- the results always matter.

The group stage comes to a close.

Milan will be in the playoffs,

which is the worst place they could have been.

They failed to win here,

failed to stay in the top eight.

You could even make the argument

maybe that he was their best player

from beginning to end of season.

Christian Pulisic

with yet another goal this season.

One of Milan's best players.

Pulisic! What a finish!

This team is unpredictable.

Somehow, somewhere, they find some energy,

and a lot of time it comes from this man's feet,

come from America.

And it will be Pulisic to step up in the Supercoppa.

The American star over the penalty,

and Christian Pulisic is back on the score sheet.

30 goals for Milan across all competitions,

quickly becoming the focal point of their attack.

But despite that,

they got ousted from the top eight

of the Champions League.

They had to go the playoff route.

They were massively favored

to go through against Feyenoord, the Dutch team,

but they weren't able to get it done.

Oh, it's in.

Mike Maignan is caught out.

Feyenoord one, Milan nil.

Well, there's no excuses, right?

Especially the way that Milan set up in January,

the big signings that they made

to strengthen the club in the Champions League.

Well, it's on a knife edge

for a week's time in the San Siro.

Lost race in Milan in the first leg of the playoffs.

They do though have that return leg

at the San Siro next week

to make their way through to the round of 16.

So much at stake, Stewart Robson.

This is what it's all about.

The two sides meet each other again

a week on from their match in Rotterdam.

Milan's are always gonna be synonymous

with the Champions League with their seven trophies,

second only behind Real Madrid.

Pulisic doing well, passed the first challenge.

Tipped into the back post, headed back across. Goal!

And Milan scores inside a minute!

The aggregate scores are level.

It is a fan base that's been used to seeing Milan

not just make the Champions League, right?

That was a foregone conclusion.

But to go far in this competition.

Across, brilliant goal!

That's how they break them down

and Feyenoord are in front again.

The top players want to be in the Champions League,

so if you miss out on this competition,

forget getting knocked out.

But if you miss out on it for next season altogether,

it has a massive dent in what the club's able to buy,

but also who the club is able to recruit.

And Feyenoord

have knocked out the mighty Milan.

To get ousted in this new format in the playoffs

when there's still so much of the competition to go,

it's so detrimental, not just for the morale, but financially,

the players that you're able to attract.

I think what will benefit Milan is consistency.

It sounds like the easy thing to do

when a team misses out on some big achievements,

but they just were a very inconsistent side.

I think one of the most consistent parts

of AC Milan last season though was Christian Pulisic.

Pulisic driving through.

Still Pulisic, and he scores!

The one bright spot this season

has been their performances

against their bitter rival, against Inter Milan.

After a brilliant start to the season,

Christian Pulisic just keeps on delivering.

The highlight of the year came 3,000 miles away

in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula,

in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia,

and it came against the very rival

that they share a city

and a stadium with back home.

This give Milan a chance for a trophy.

What a treat for the American audience.

The Finale della Supercoppa Italiana,

Supercoppa edition.

Low and through.

Pulisic there first. Oh!

Christian Pulisic has scored in the semifinal

and now in the final of the Super Cup.

Look at it again.

Christian Pulisic comes through for Milan.

What a tough night for Milan in this second half.

Pulisic in behind to Rafael Leao.

Leao to Abraham and it's turned in!

Tammy Abraham is the Super Cup hero!

Look who starts it. Pulisic.

So in a season in which Christian

competed for trophies at Copa America,

Nations League, the Champions League,

the Coppa Italia,

and the Serie A playing for the scudetto,

the Super Cup was the only hardware he'd actually lift.

You know, for a lot of players,

trophies can end up defining them.

Does it ever hit you where you're like, holy shit.

Christian won a Champions League.

He won the Supercoppa.

He won the Nations League.

Does that ever, like, hit you?

A lot of it comes up with

when people bring up a lot of...

you know, the excitement of him winning a Champions League

or trophies he's won at Milan,

it's just I don't need to tell anyone about it.

I don't need to think about it a lot.

I know the time and effort he's put into it,

and we're just proud, you know,

proud of him and what he's done.

Of course, when you think about it

and you go in the theater room

and you go to the memorabilia and you see it, you know,

you're always reminded of that night, which was awesome.

So that's great in itself to be able to have those memories.

Wait, wait, what? What's in the theater room?

Oh, you gotta see this.

Come on.

Welcome to the theater room.

Okay.

It's awesome.

The theater room.

Oh, we have a large collection of fun items, I like to say.

Jerseys, trophies, medals,

just some fun stuff.

So I save all of the special things

and take things from his house every once in a while,

and I put them on the shelves, and it's special.

I think it's really special.

When you get your first cap,

all the players that are there, you know,

sign the sign the ball for you.

So I think that's pretty cool

because you can see all the, you know,

you look closely and you can see

all the players who are on that.

So I think that's kind of really special.

Even from when he was a little kid,

probably, like, one of his favorite trophies of all time

is when he became MVP of a tournament

when he was in England.

So I still have that one.

Sometimes I get a hold of things

that maybe don't mean a lot to Christian,

but kind of means a lot to me, so I sneak 'em in there.

What's, like, the prize possession?

What's the prize possession?

The prize possession has to be the Champions League medal.

I mean, how many players in the world can say

that they have a Champions League medal first place?

To win it all is just something special.

I know my wife and I will never forget that night

that we celebrated with him and the team.

Gonna be a long night.

You know, he wore it all night.

He wore it to bed. He wore it the next morning.

There's a picture of him at breakfast, you know, wearing it.

And that meant so much to me,

and I know my wife is how much it meant to him.

Because as a kid,

he always dreamt of winning a Champions League.

But as parents, you're like, oh, yeah, right, you know?

But he did it, you know?

And, you know, it's just something

that he'll be able to have for the rest of his life.

It's kind of something we like to keep a little private.

It's not in full display when someone walks in here.

You know, it's private.

It really is only for us to kind of really enjoy

and, you know, some of those special memories

you just kind of wanna keep just for us.

The man in the mirror.

That was a great night. Crazy night.

This was the first Nations League win against Mexico.

We had no idea.

And then after he scored the goal,

it was an important goal in qualification.

Did you even know what it said or, like, what was going on?

Oh, I was shocked because I was like, what's on his shirt?

Yeah, we didn't really know what it meant

to be honest at that time.

We were like, what's the story? What's the story?

So we didn't have any idea,

like, you know, what was happening.

It's just funny that he just got a Sharpie before the match

and decided to write that because of, like--

I think some of his teammates

had a lot to do with that.

- Did you watch it? - Oh, yeah.

- Come on. - Got to.

- Got to. - Would have been shaking.

For right now, he's obviously living in Italy

and moving around so much,

and I think just kind of it's a safe haven for him

to know he has all his very important memorabilia, trophies,

Champions League medals in one place,

and he knows we'll take care of 'em.

Obviously, with all this,

there's been ups and downs and difficult moments,

but you talk about pride

and how proud you are of your son.

You know, we're able to come in here

and just kind of look at it and reminisce a little bit.

I'm assuming once he's done with his career,

he'll want it all back,

but it might be tough getting it back from us.

But until then,

I hope we can continue to grow it for sure.

You know, a World's Cup

would really complete the collection in here.

Where would you put that?

We're gonna have to get some new shelves.

So we've already decided.

That would go somewhere special for sure.

You know, in the summer of '26,

when the World Cup comes to the U.S.,

everyone's gonna be watching Pulisic,

everyone's gonna be watching U.S. soccer.

But it's not our first time around, obviously.

It happened in '94, and it was a game changer, right?

Yeah, I mean, I'm not sitting in front of this camera right now

if it wasn't for the '94 World Cup.

There's an entire generation of soccer fans, soccer journalists,

people who cover the game, consume the game,

that fell in love with the sport that summer, you know?

It was massive.

I remember '94.

It was huge.

I mean, just watching all the matches.

Free kick for the Americans.

Oh, a goal!

And here, this could be a second for Stewart,

and America go two goals ahead.

And then again in '99, cheering on the 99ers.

Goal!

That was really pretty awesome.

The stage is just so huge,

and having it here is just amazing.

As the U.S. Soccer Team

lined up for the official photo,

the sport of the future in this country

is finally getting attention.

People are gonna all of a sudden turn on their TVs

and think they're in a different country here.

And the more successful we are,

I think that the more the American fans

are gonna come out.

Not only to support this team,

but to support soccer in general,

and that's what we're trying to build here.

We don't want this party to end.

You know, a World Cup in your home country,

I'm so excited just about the idea of it.

And obviously when the time comes,

that'll be an amazing event.

I mean, obviously having all my family and friends come out

and watch me play in the World Cup,

you know, there's gonna be nothing like that.

I always think about as few people in the world

that have ever participated in a World Cup,

there's fewer that have participated

in a World Cup at home.

The number is so small to get to do this at home,

you have to take advantage of it.

And it's incredible the impact that this will have

on every one of their lives moving forward.

You know, I think that the World Cup

will mean a lot for Christian Pulisic.

You know, can he galvanize a country

around his national team?

Can he be the face of the World Cup?

And can he perform the way he's expected to

when it really matters?

If I had a nickel for every time someone said,

man, the World Cup and your team

was the team that turned me on to the sport

and forever grateful

for showing me what this game is about.

There are people in America that 20 years from now

are gonna say that about Christian Pulisic

and this entire group.

I mean, it's one of those cliche things

they say in sports that's true.

It's a generational opportunity.

You have kids that already play the game

that are gonna fall further in love with it.

It is an extremely rare opportunity in America

to expose soccer to a mainstream audience.

When people see a team, 11 players plus subs

that wanna come on and make a difference in games

and work and run and tackle

and give the fans energy and something to believe in,

I think that belief will grow throughout the U.S.,

and this World Cup is gonna be the most amazing platform

to grow the game in the U.S.

In '94, we had stadiums,

the fields weren't the right size.

It was very odd.

This time around, the World Cup is gonna be played

in the greatest venues in the world.

It'll simply be a very impressive show

for the United States, not only as a country,

but also as a soccer playing country.

2026, you know, leaves us with an incredible opportunity

to do what '94 did.

And if you look at the metrics and the statistics

and all the data of what '94 unearthed

in terms of soccer in the United States,

this tournament will do the same thing, you know,

hopefully multiple times over.

You saw what '94 World Cup did.

It started a professional league here in the States in MLS.

Then you got 2026.

I mean, it's a huge opportunity

to what's gonna be that next big thing

that takes us to the next level?

Christian, I hope, understands

that there's an extra pressure on him.

I'm sure he can deal with all of it,

but most importantly, I hope that he embraces it.

You can make an argument that no one will have more pressure

in the next World Cup than your son.

Mm-hmm.

Have you thought about that?

No, but thanks for reminding me.

Listen, he's taken every challenge head on,

and I know that he's gonna take that challenge

with every piece of his heart and soul

just because I know what he wants to do,

wants to do for the country,

wants to do for the sport and for himself.

It's not easy being the face of U.S. soccer.

It's definitely challenging.

You need to have a strong system around you

to, you know, take your mind off things sometimes

and, you know, make it not only work,

but also a bit fun.

Yeah, I mean, soccer, it's given us a lot.

And, you know, my wife and I played growing up.

We played at the same college,

and we met and we got married,

and I played pro when she followed me around.

Then we had kids, and they played soccer.

So it's been a tremendous part of our lives.

Thinking back, Mark and I playing soccer,

and then all of a sudden you have a son

that's, you know, playing on the world stage.

No. I mean, this is, like, it's insane.

It's just, like, wake me up, you know?

It's craziness.

I mean, of course it's been an unbelievable journey so far,

and we are very lucky that the game gave us so much.

Yeah, Christian's just very generous

to all of, you know, his family.

The house we have, you know, the farm we have,

how he's helped his sister, you know, helped all of us.

This is our normal crazy day in Florida.

We love it though.

It's amazing that he always says,

I do this for you guys.

So all the time where, you know,

he doesn't wanna be in front of a camera

or he doesn't want to do these extra things,

he's like, I'm doing it for you guys, you know,

because I want everyone to have a really good life.

And so I think that is one of the things

that he loves the most about doing what he does

is being able to help us have this farm and this business

and do what we love.

So, you know, as a mom,

you just feel really, you know, blessed, blessed,

because I feel like he's just a really good person

on top of being a soccer player.

I mean, despite everything he's done with the national team

and his professional career,

I just don't think he's changed much.

Mark, come on. They're here.

Like, you know, we're still best friends.

Like, to still be close with a hometown friend, you know,

like, that's all you need to know.

Hey, come on. Let's go.

- Come on, they're here. - Let's go.

I think Christian's support system

is one of the reasons he's been successful.

Oh, my goodness.

Who's that? Go get him.

The immediate people around him

are the people that matter most in his life,

and I think that he knows that we're all, you know,

we all love him unconditionally in wins, in losses,

you know, no matter what happens.

- Hi, guys. - Hi.

Hi, baby.

Who's here for you?

Who's here? Go get him.

My hopes for Christian, I hope that he's happy.

I hope that he continues to stay close to his family,

which I know means a lot to him.

And I hope he keeps his mentality,

whether it's in soccer, whether it's in life,

this mentality of wanting to be as good as he can be,

to be respectful around others,

to put his best foot forward constantly,

to be a team player.

Hi. How are you?

It was great.

- It was good. - Awesome.

- Hi. - Hi. Good to see you again.

You know, he's a wonderful kid.

He's a wonderful kid and a wonderful person,

and I hope he keeps what makes Christian Christian,

and he doesn't forget those things

because I think he's a great guy

and his parents have done a great job.

Wanna go see Mary?

Let's see her.

Take a quick walk? Stretch your legs?

Sure.

What do I want for him when he hangs up his boots?

I want him to be happy.

I just want him to enjoy life

and not have to live the stressful life anymore

because I want him just to be able to wake up in the morning

and not have to worry

about what he has to produce, you know, every day.

Oh, this is Mary's spot?

Hi, Mare.

For Christian, I hope that he finds a place

where he can continue to just enjoy his football.

But then selfishly, I hope that he goes on

to be the greatest player we've ever produced.

That he carries his team to a place that we've never been

and become the player

that we all kind of dreamt that he would be at 17.

The legacy question with Christian Pulisic

is an interesting one because he's young.

He he still has a lot of football to play.

But he's already considered

the best player that the U.S. has ever produced,

and that may continue

unless someone else comes 10, 20 years from now.

But right now, it's gonna be tough

to knock Christian off of that pedestal.

That is his legacy.

It's an expectation that he hasn't fulfilled yet,

but we're ready to give it to him.

What's this first week look like?

- No plans. - No plans.

- None at all. - What are you gonna do, though?

I don't want any plans.

The way I see things playing out for Christian,

I mean, if he keeps doing

what he's doing for the national team,

There's no weaknesses in his game.

At the rate he's doing it, I think he will be

the best men's American player of all time

in terms of goal scoring.

You know, right now, I'm tied at 57 with Landon Donovan,

but I did it in less games, penalties are the same.

But at the same time, I think he's gonna break that record.

So, you know, take your time breaking it,

but I think that's gonna be his.

I don't think that for him it's important

if they ever say he was the best ever player, you know.

I think Pele didn't have that in mind.

Beckenbauer didn't have that in mind.

Nor did Ronaldo or Messi have that in mind.

They wanna just win tournaments.

I think Christian Pulisic would like to be remembered

for being a driving force and an influential player

in America's deepest run ever in the World Cup.

Avery, I got a prize for you.

You wanna see it?

When Christian Pulisic says, I don't just wanna be

the greatest American men's player

that's ever taken the field.

When he says, I wanna win the World Cup

for the United States Of America,

I realize that's what you need to say to yourself

to go on that hero's journey.

In Christian's mind,

he truly believes that is possible.

And God bless. I love it for him.

I love it for that team.

And it's probably the most American attitude to football

that there can be.

I think if you look at American soccer,

American players coming to European football,

Chris Pulisic is one of the best examples possible

and is a perfect role model

for many players who are going to train with him.

For me, he's gonna go down as one of the best,

if not the best U.S. player to ever play the game,

and I'm happy to be right beside him

watching his career kind of blossom

into, you know, what everyone thought it would.

Just, you know, pure greatness.

Here we go, boys.

Let's give 'em a little something right here.

I don't think about legacy

in the way of how other people will view me.

I think it's trying to live with no regrets for me.

And I think there's been a lot of things against me,

but I'm lucky to be doing what I'm doing.

I also try to change the way that I think about things,

especially in the last couple of years

from, you know, I have to deal with all this media pressure,

I have to deal with being American and playing in Europe.

But instead of thinking of it like that,

it's completely changed

and, it's like, no, I get to do this.

I get to do this because I'm good.

I get to do this because I've shown over and over

that I'm good enough, that people criticize me often.

I get to have that attention because I'm good.

And I hope people can see that

and hopefully just see the work that I put in as well.

Obviously they can't see

the work that I do every day behind the scenes

and the reason I've got there, but that's kind of

what this documentary is so special for, too,

is because it's giving a little bit more of a look

into how I came to do all this

and why I do it and the people I do it for.

And I just wanna do everything possible

to make sure that once I do hang up the boots one day

that I'm proud of what I've accomplished.

Because I wanna inspire especially American kids

that can watch me and think,

if this guy can do it, then why can't I?

And I want them to have someone to look up to

climbing the highest level this game has to offer.

As an American who grew up in America, you know,

I wanna break down that barrier.

I want to create a legacy that people can look

and say, man, this guy changed American soccer.

I think times are changing for sure.

And I think if I can be a small part in that,

then I'm proud of the work that I've done.

Avery, can you look at CP and say, that's a wrap.

That's a wrap.

That's a wrap.

♪ I've seen times that you would not believe ♪

♪ I've been down so low I could hardly breathe ♪

♪ But then I found me an ocean of hope down at my feet ♪

♪ And I would rise ♪

♪ I've had faith torn from my hands ♪

♪ I said goodbye to all of life's plans ♪

♪ Right there at the mountain ♪

♪ Caught my last chance, I climb ♪

♪ Oh-whoa-whoa ♪

♪ Oh, yes, I climb ♪

♪ Oh-whoa-whoa ♪

♪ Oh, yes, I climb ♪

♪ Don't know why I did, no ♪

♪ Saw the sky again ♪

♪ Nothing down below, no ♪

♪ But only heaven knows ♪