Pulisic spoke with GOAL about life in the spotlight, being both hero and occasional villain, the sacrifices made and ultimate joy of it all

The third episode of Christian Pulisic's eponymous documentary on Paramount + opens with a flashback to last year. It shows the day that Pulisic became persona non grata in one of the world's most ancient cities. On that day, Rome hated him – well, at least the Lazio half of Rome. On that day the AC Milan superstar, the leader of the opposing team, became despised. On that day, to one group of fans, he became a villain.

Players took swings at him. Fans chanted his name. He was called dirty, a cheat. It was a disorienting and unnerving experience, one that left American soccer's most famous star shellshocked. He'd experienced his share of hostile crowds before, but this? This was different.

The documentary immediately cuts to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is simply eating up the opposing fans' reactions as only he can. Ibrahimovic's larger-than-life personality made him exactly the man for these types of circumstances. The Swedish star thrived on such negativity. Pulisic? Not so much. Throughout his career, Pulisic has struggled, at times, with the weight that comes with being American soccer's focal point, but the spotlight always felt a hell of a lot better than the one he experienced that night at Lazio.

"I don't think it's a matter of me wanting or not wanting to be a villain; I think it's just the way I am," Pulisic told GOAL in an exclusive interview, reflecting back to that evening in Rome. "It doesn't seem like I'm interested in that but, under the layers, even though I may not be the most outgoing person, I'm one of the most competitive people you'll ever meet. I love competing. If that means that everyone's gonna hate me and want to fight me, that's fine with me. I'm never gonna shy away. I'm never gonna step down from challenges or be scared in any way. I think that's the most important thing to me."

So while not exactly seeking out the role of villain, Pulisic accepted it for what it was.

"I embrace these moments," he said. "It was cool watching that episode [of the documentary] and watching that back. It was cool to see. I did have some really interesting experiences, and that was a new one. Being in that villain role is a newer thing to me. It was so funny to be but, like I said, I love to compete, so bring on whatever you've got for me."

The villain role may be newer, but the spotlight isn't. Now 26, Pulisic has spent so much of his life on the most public of stages. He's spent so much of his life being cast in these different roles all over the world. He was Borussia Dortmund's wonderkid and Chelsea's enigma. He remains American soccer's main character, leading one hell of a supporting cast with the U.S. men's national team.

He's now AC Milan's superstar, a player changing games and perceptions every time he steps on the field. In some ways, he remains somewhat uncomfortable with it all – even as he stars in a multi-part docuseries based on …. well, himself. Despite everything that's happened since he broke through as a teenage superstar in the making, there are certain aspects of Pulisic's personality that have not, and will not, change.

He's an introvert at his core. He prefers quiet nights to loud ones. He's not as braggadocios or obnoxious as Ibrahimovic – or even as outgoing as some of his teammates. For all of his comfort on the field, he's still just as uncomfortable with so much of what happens off it – the talk shows, the fan encounters, the interviews, those moments in which he's asked to open up in a manner he doesn't always embrace.

In some ways, Pulisic isn't really cut out for it all. Yet in other ways, he's perfect for it.

That's why he stepped out of his comfort zone for the documentary, a decision that shocked even his closest friends and family. That's why, as the USMNT prepares for the 2026 World Cup on home soil, he's trying to let people in just a little bit more. He doesn't want the world to see him for what they want him to be. He wants them to see him for who he really is. He considers it a responsibility, but more than ever, it's intentional.

Pulisic is going to stay Pulisic, and the man is more comfortable with that than ever before. The world met him as a teenager with big talent and big dreams. He's reintroducing himself now in his own way.

GOALsat down with the AC Milan and USMNT star to talk about life in the spotlight, learning to be both a hero and a villain, the enormous sacrifices made along the way, finding joy in Italy, and why the weight on his very public shoulders is starting to feel … well, just a little bit lighter.

Letting the world in

To understand why Pulisic's decision to agree to the documentary was totally out of character, you have to be familiar with the man himself. He'd spent the last decade trying to keep his non-soccer life out of the spotlight.

His social media posts offer the smallest of glimpses, and almost all are headlined by photos of him on the field. He's not seen on red carpets or at major parties. He doesn't do many interviews. Pulisic has always shied away from being a "celebrity." Instead, he's mostly just wanted to be a soccer player.

But when you have the talent he has, you have to be both. Since he burst onto the scene as a teenage prodigy at Dortmund, he has occupied a different space altogether, one that goes even further than the celebrity of a normal professional athlete. For decades, American fans have been desperate for a superstar, a player they can call their own who competes at the highest levels of European soccer.

Pulisic was earmarked to do just that.

He's not only met those expectations, he's exceeded them. He's lifted the Champions League trophy, scored at a World Cup, and played for some of the biggest clubs in Europe. If you had said this was his path when he first arrived on the scene, nearly everyone would have said he's gone above and beyond their wildest dreams.

Still, a decade after being named American soccer's great hope, that ambition remains. The World Cup will be in the U.S. in 2026. He's still among the Americans fighting for respect in Europe. Even at Milan, he's expected to be a leader in the attack for a club that has been home to some of the best the sport has ever seen. It's a lot, even for him.

All these years later, Pulisic still shoulders a weight that he isn't totally comfortable with. It's gotten lighter, for sure, but he still feels it.

"I think with time, and with experience as well, it's definitely gotten easier in a lot of ways," he says. "I'm used to it now. I don't put as much pressure on myself. It doesn't weigh on me or make me feel like it's some burden that I need to have because I am who I am in the soccer world. I don't feel that I need to carry some kind of weight to show people that I need to be a certain way all the time. I don't really feel that. I'm pretty, pretty calm. I'm pretty happy with where I'm at and where I've come in life."

Even so, the more he's come to grips with the life he lives, the more he's come to understand it. It comes with responsibility. Pulisic didn't start kicking a ball in his backyard with his parents hoping to someday be a role model – he just wanted to be a soccer player. Ultimately, though, he's both. Fair or foul. And it's that responsibility that led him to do something totally out of character – a documentary.

For many, the big question was simple: why now? Why, all of a sudden, was Pulisic willing to put himself out there in ways that he never had been before? Why were parts of his life that were always off limits suddenly about to be put on camera?

It mostly stems from that responsibility, but it's not just that. It's also a feeling that everyone, even soccer stars, has deep inside. Ultimately, everyone wants the world to understand them, right?

"I just hope people can watch it and see like 'OK, this guy is going through similar things that I'm going through,' whether that's on a different scale or in a different location or a different job," he says. "I want them to say, 'He's going through the same battles that a lot of people are out there.' I hope that I can show my ways of overcoming it, my support system, the people in my life who matter to me, and how they've helped me through it. I haven't done this alone at all.

"If people can see that – and I mean this for all of the people out there who are similar to me in a more introverted way – if they see how I deal with things and go about my life, maybe they'll learn a little bit more about me."

Pulisic's life is unique and, even to him, wholly unexplainable. Those feelings, though? Those are relatable. The documentary touches on Pulisic's loves and fears. It has him discuss his worst moments and his proudest. It shows him with his closest friends in the moments out of the spotlight.

Much of it is filmed by a childhood friend, Dan Ioffreda. Those segments are meant to show Pulisic at his most real. Golf, chess, dinners, phone calls, car rides – those are the quiet moments, the ones that were often Pulisic's only comfort zone outside of the white lines. For a few months, he let cameras film them.

"It's been subtle," he says, "but I think it's been powerful."

It does help, of course, that the decision to do this comes at a time when Pulisic is at his most comfortable. This never would have been possible just a few short years ago. For Pulisic to become this open, he had to figure some things out on his own first, and he's done that since his move to Milan.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportFinding joy in Milan

Pulisic loves it when those closest to him are able to visit. It's one of the perks of living in Italy and, in particular, of playing for AC Milan. Getting to share that experience with other people is rewarding. He loves welcoming friends and family to Italy. He loves those quiet moments in which he gets a taste of home while those he welcomes get a taste of Italy.

Maybe more than anything, though, he loves bringing friends and family to watch him play.

"Those are the moments I look forward to the most, for sure," he says. "I love to show them around here, bring them to the games here. The San Siro? It's just amazing."

Pulisic has helped make those experiences amazing by taking care of his part on the field. This season has certainly been his best yet. He's scored six goals in Serie A, second most in Milan's team. He leads the squad in Serie A assists. He chipped in two more goals to help Milan lift the Supercoppa Italiana in January. He scored four times this year's Champions League, though he failed to do so Tuesday as Milan drew Feyenoord 1-1 after posting an early 1-0 lead, resulting in Milan's elimination from the 2024-25 competition.

That disappointment notwithstanding, he says that the love he receives in Milan far surpasses the outrage he received at Lazio. After spending so much of his European adventure feeling so uncomfortable, Pulisic finally feels at peace. Reports indicate that Pulisic will sign a new AC Milan deal soon. Given his comfort level, it's easy to see why he'd be open to it.

"To be honest, it really started since coming here," he says of his time in Milan. "With my faith in God, I feel like I'm in such a more peaceful place off the field, away from everything. I can say that pretty comfortably."

Over the last year, though, in the making of the documentary, Pulisic was asked to reflect on some of the less peaceful moments. There have been plenty. There are some he still struggles a bit to understand. Some, though, now make a bit more sense in hindsight.

GettyThe sacrifices along the way

Pulisic didn't watch the Super Bowl last Sunday. It just didn't really feel worth it with the time difference. If the New York Jets were playing? Well, then he'd be glued to the screen into the early hours of the morning. But with the Philadelphia Eagles trouncing the Kansas City Chiefs? A good night of sleep just felt more important. He'd just have to be filled in on the game later.

A small sacrifice, for sure, but a sacrifice nonetheless. This one doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. There will be more Super Bowls down. Maybe the Jets will even get back someday. That decision, although minuscule, does offer some insight into something that Pulisic has been thinking about a bit more recently: he has not had a "normal" life.

There was no high school prom, no late nights out with friends. There was no college experience, where a kid can make mistakes that help define who they are. Even now, living in one of the world's most famous cities, Pulisic has no sense of normalcy. He can't just go to dinner in Milan without being recognized. There are no quiet moments when he steps out the door. That life is a luxury. It's been like that since he was 16. Now 26, he does sometimes wonder about what he's missed.

"I've thought about it, for sure," he says. "Sometimes, I kind of wonder what my life would be like if I didn't go down this path, if I didn't move to Europe so young to pursue this dream of mine. But then I feel extremely lucky to be in the position I am, as much as I don't love that stuff with it. I don't love taking pictures with random people. I just want to go about my business when I'm in public, just like most people do. Even with that, though, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

"I'm extremely grateful. If that's the first problem I have, I'm doing OK. I'm lucky. But, yeah, I do think about it, and I think there are a lot of people out there who are similar to me, or are in a similar boat, and they're not exactly the most outgoing people who want to be seen all the time. I think, really, that's just who I am."

In watching his own documentary, Pulisic has learned a little bit more about who he is. Seeing his friends and family reflect on his big moments has been eye-opening, he says. Being asked to do it himself? That's probably been the most helpful part of it all.

For example, reckoning with just how hard it was to move to Europe has helped a lot. It's not that he never really thought about that part of that journey. It's just more challenging to look back when you're looking forward. Pulisic arrived at Dortmund as a 15-year-old. Since that moment, there's been little time to reflect on these sorts of things, especially as they're happening in real time.

He's since come to realize just how hard that first year at Dortmund was. Unable to play due to registration rules, Pulisic was stuck in a loop. Unable to speak German, he struggled to adapt to his life at school. With his family divided, there was never any sense of normalcy. That, for him, was the moment. He's since realized that that year, the one in which soccer was in some ways furthest away, was his truest test.

"It was the worst year of my life," he says, unflinchingly. "Moving to Europe at 15, leaving everything behind and going through what I did, it was horrible. It really was a struggle at the beginning. I had to just see that out and decide if where I wanted to go in life was really worth what I was going through at that time. I always told myself that it was, so I'll just see it out. I just said, 'I'll keep going.' "

Pulisic has been proven right – the struggles and sacrifices are paying off, and it's not just fans back in the U.S. that are taking notice, either.

Getty Images SportThe 'world-class' label

Pulisic isn't the type to search his name on social media. He isn't the type to read the comments, either. If he did, though, he'd see a shift. The way people talk about him has changed dramatically over the last two years.

When he was on the bench at Chelsea, still fighting for a chance? Tough. He never really got it in London. The managerial merry-go-round never worked in his favor, although he did have his moments. It's hard to call anything about his Chelsea move negative, given what he won there, but it is fair to say that the Pulisic who walked out of Stamford Bridge was viewed very differently than the one who walked in.

Today, even Chelsea fans can't help but marvel at the level Pulisic is playing at. Milan fans are thrilled by it. So, too, are USMNT supporters. There's no denying it, no matter what team you back. As for how high that level is, Pulisicstays out of the discussion. Fans constantly debate his place in the hierarchy and how he stacks up against the world's other great attacking players. The term "world-class" is so often debated and discussed – has Pulisic earned it?

"It would probably surprise people how little I do care about that kind of stuff," he says. "Truthfully. What matters to me are my coaches and my teammates and then the people that I keep close in my life. To me, there's just no one else that I'm trying to please with the way that I play or the way that I live my life. So for me, I don't care about what people have to say from my past or whatever, or how they think I'm playing.

"It's just that that's not important to me. What's important is what directly affects me and how I can improve myself. Random people's opinions online? That'll never be important to me."

The most important thing to him is that this all stays fun, just like it always has, and there's never been a more exciting time than right now. The World Cup is in 2026 and, admittedly, Pulisic hasn't thought deeply about it. It'll be the biggest month of his career, no doubt, and perhaps the most important month in American soccer's history. It's in his mind, for sure, but he isn't letting it leap to the front.

"It's amazing, and I'm definitely excited, but it's just not something that's on my brain at the moment," he says. "Just with our schedule, we literally play every three or four days. It's crazy. I'll think about it in March when I'm back with the national team, and I'm super excited about getting a chance at another trophy. It's just that we have a lot of time and a lot of things can happen before that, so I'm just focusing on what I'm doing. That, the near future, it's all super exciting, too."