‘More important than tactics’ - USMNT star Christian Pulisic reacts to winning first trophy at AC Milan as American forward vows to ‘celebrate properly’

The United States international, who had been nursing a knock towards the end of 2024, has opened the New Year in spectacular style. His status as a talismanic presence at San Siro has been underlined by two goals in Supercoppa Italiana action.

The first of those, against Juventus, helped to book a final showdown with arch-rivals Inter in Saudi Arabia. Pulisic was on target again with major silverware up for grabs, as Milan claimed a dramatic 3-2 win that saw them recover from going two goals down before Tammy Abraham snatched a 93rd-minute winner.

Pulisic told Milan TV afterwards: “It’s amazing to win a trophy, my first with AC Milan. Not just to win it but to do so in the way we did was great. The goal, I took it well with my left foot. I’m thrilled to have scored and that we won it in the end. We’ve worked really hard over the last few days. We’ll absolutely try to gain confidence from winning this title. Onwards. We’ll celebrate properly. We deserve this.”

New Rossoneri boss Sergio Conceicao has made an immediate impact since taking the reins – winning his first two games at the helm – and Pulisic added to Sport Mediaset on the important messages that the Portuguese is getting across: “Has Milan changed since Conceiçao? Yes, you saw the hunger and the way we played. Conceiçao surprised me with his intensity in training: he always told us to be hungry, which is more important than tactics.”

With major silverware secured, Milan will now turn their attention back to Serie A matters. Pulisic will be hoping to inspire a bid for Champions League qualification, with the Rossoneri sat eighth in the table heading towards a home date with Cagliari on Saturday.