‘Just a funny name’ – Christian Pulisic reacts to ‘Captain America’ tag as USMNT star addresses ‘don’t give a sh*t’ statement from AC Milan legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic

The United States international has, from a young age, had to grow accustomed to shouldering the expectations of his nation. Having burst onto the scene as a precociously-gifted teenager, Pulisic is now 26 years of age and boasts spells at Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea and Milan on his distinguished CV.

He has long been billed as “Captain America”, with the armband often being donned with his country, and has been informed by none other than Rossoneri legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic – who now fills an executive role at San Siro – that he needs to make peace with that billing, with the enigmatic Swede saying: “He is playing low profile and with his feet on the ground. But you are 'Captain America', I don’t give a sh*t what you say, you are. If that is more pressure on you, I don’t care. It is his own fault — if you weren’t so good, we wouldn’t ask anything from you.”

Pulisic has reacted to those comments by telling GQ: “A statement like that from Ibra—there’s not much more to it than he expects a lot out of me and the club expects a lot out of me, and that’s exactly the place I want to be in. I want to give everything for this club. I’ve shown in a short time that I can be a big part of this team and help us create goals.

“The ‘Captain America’ title doesn’t necessarily have some bigger meaning than that to me. It’s just a funny name. It doesn’t add pressure, I don’t feel that way. It’s exactly like he said—he doesn’t care whether I like it or not or what the name is. It doesn’t matter. Do my friends and family call me that? No. But I do my best to just give my best always for Milan and for the national team, and whatever people want to say about it, that’s alright.”

While becoming a hero to many in his homeland, Pulisic has spoken of the “bias” that he has experienced against American players outside of the U.S. He believes that condescending attitude is at its worst in England, saying of an issue that he discusses in his new documentary on Paramount Plus: “Yeah, just because that’s kind of their joke. They don’t like the whole ‘soccer’ thing. They think any American take is a bad take. I think that’s just an English running joke as well, people may not be all that serious about it. And I think Americans have done a really good job of earning people’s respect in recent years.”

Pulisic has been proving his worth to audiences all over the world this season, with an impressive eight-goal haul cementing his standing as a talismanic presence for Milan – with a return from injury expected to be made in the Rossoneri’s final Serie A outing of 2024 against Roma on Sunday.