PHILADELPHIA -- Seventeen-year-old Borussia Dortmund midfielder Christian Pulisic might not have received first-team minutes had he started his professional career in the United States rather than Germany, U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann said on Friday.
Pulisic made Klinsmann's squad for the ongoing Copa America Centenario after becoming a regular with Dortmund during the second half of the Bundesliga season. The Hershey, Pennsylvania native made nine appearances (four starts) in league play and 12 in all competitions for the German runners-up, scoring twice. He's the youngest player in Bundesliga history to have multiple goals in a season.
Yet Klinsmann, who helped Germany win the 1990 World Cup as a player and coached his country's squad to the semifinals in 2006, isn't sure the wiry teen would have gotten the same opportunities in his home country.