Can Christian Pulisic speak Croatian?

Christian Pulisic is an American soccer player of Croatian descent who plays as a striker for Chelsea FC of the English Premier League.

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Does Pulisic speak Croatian?

Pulisic's paternal grandfather, Mate Pulišić, was born in Croatia on the island of Olib. Pulisic obtained Croatian citizenship after moving to Germany to avoid applying for a German work visa, which is required to work in the country without an EU passport.

Regardless of his Croatian ancestry, the USNMT star does not speak Croatian. However, in his time in Germany he had the opportunity to study and learn the language. He speaks English and German.

Early beginnings

Pulisic grew up in Hershey, Pennsylvania. His father Mark Pulisic, of Croatian descent, played professional indoor soccer for the Harrisburg Heat in the 1990s. Pulisic grew up playing for the PA Classics youth team, as well as training on occasion with the local Harrisburg City Islanders professional team as a teenager. There he was snapped up by Borussia Dortmund, at just 16 years of age. Before that, he was in Detroit, where his father was general manager of the Detroit Ignition indoor soccer team. Interestingly, at the age of seven, he lived in England and for one season played for Brackley Town Football Club's youth teams.

Borussia Dortmund

Pulisic signed for German club Borussia Dortmund on January 4, 2015 at the age of 16, and the team immediately assigned him to their U-19 youth team. After scoring 10 goals and delivering 8 assists in just 15 appearances for the club's youth teams, Pulisic was brought into the first team during the winter of 2015. He scored one goal and assisted on another in two warm-up games for the second part of the 2015-16 season.

He made his professional Bundesliga debut a few days later, entering in the second half in a match against FC Ingolstadt 04 on January 30, 2016. Weeks later he would make his Bundesliga starting debut in Dortmund's 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in a Bundesliga match. He scored his first professional goal on April 17, 2016 in a 3-0 win over Hamburger SV. Following his good performance in that match, Pulisic was included in the Bundesliga Week 30 All-Star team.

Chelsea F.C.

On January 2, 2019, Borussia Dortmund made his sale to Chelsea F. C. official in exchange for €64 million, although the player would remain at the club on loan until the end of the season.

His career in Chelsea has been nothing short of successful, where he has won the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, losing three domestic cup finals.

USMNT

Pulisic has represented the United States at the U-15 and U-17 levels. Pulisic captained the U-17 team at the 2015 U-17 World Cup in Chile, where he scored one goal and earned one assist in three games. In total, Pulisic scored 20 goals in 34 games at this level.

Senior national team

In March 2016, Borussia Dortmund announced that Pulisic had been called up to the United States senior national team for the first time ahead of two 2018 World Cup qualifying matches against Guatemala. However, he was unable to immediately join the team due to a cold. The U.S. national team coach made his call-up official when he included him in the squad for the second match against Guatemala on March 27. He made his debut in that match, entering in the second half and becoming the youngest U.S. player to play in a World Cup qualifying match.

Pulisic made history again months later, becoming the youngest player to score a goal for his national team on May 28, 2016 in a friendly against Bolivia.

What does Pulisic represent for the United States

Christian Pulisic, who is only 23 years old, is one of the greatest soccer players to ever represent the United States.

With seven goals in his career, he holds the record for most goals scored by an American in the Champions League. He has also won several awards with both his club clubs and the U.S. men's national team.

The USMNT standout Pulisic already had a trophy from his time at Borussia Dortmund, but his transfer to Chelsea in 2019 provided him an even better opportunity to add to his collection. He has participated in several finals, both domestically and internationally, and has won numerous trophies to help make the most of it.

He represents the present and future of the USMNT and the growth of soccer in the US.

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