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March 21, 2019; Orlando, Florida, United States; American striker Christian Pulisic (10) defends himself against Ecuador in the second half of a friendly football match at Orlando City Stadium. (Kim Klement / USA TODAY Sports)
NEW YORK – While sipping black tea in the Grand Hyatt lobby in midtown Manhattan on Monday afternoon, Patrick Owomoyela remembered very well the first time he watched Christian Pulisic play.
"I have heard that there is a huge talent that is doing crazy things in the youth department and now it is in the same state. He's doing the same things, basically, and he seems to be the next big thing, "said Owomoyela, a former Borussia Dortmund defender. Pro Soccer USA in an exclusive interview on Monday. "The first time I saw it, it was actually a match with the professional team and it was amazing."
During his years in the German Bundesliga, Owomoyela said there were a handful of talented Americans, including current US national team coach Gregg Berhalter, at 1860 Munich, in the league.
But it was a different buzz.
"Suddenly, there was this guy and he was just different, better than any other American player I've seen before," Owomoyela I said. "That's what I tell people. He is not only good for an American player, he is one of the best in the world for this sport. "
Pulisic has become a transformative star of Borussia Dortmund in its three years with the first team, opening up a reputation and a marketing opportunity to the Bundesliga giant never equaled in the United States.
He is now the face of the USMNT and became the youngest player in history to reach 10 goals in a 1-1 draw against Chile in an international friendly match at the BBVA Compbad Stadium on Tuesday night.
Pulisic also made headlines with a $ 73 million transfer to British Premier League giant Chelsea in January. He returned to Dortmund on loan for the remainder of the 2019 season, where he said he was hoping to guide BVB in a title boost in the second half.
"This is not embarrbading at all," Pulisic said of his return to Dortmund during a round table with reporters in anticipation of the USMNT 's friendly match against the US. Ecuador in Orlando last week. "My teammates are all professionals. They understand how this company works. I wanted to move and they are all very happy for me. The club is too. But they also understand that I'm here to give 120% of the rest of the season because I want to win as badly as all the guys in the locker room. "
Soon, however, the 20-year-old left for big time – London. Chelsea. L & # 39; EPL.
It is a much larger world than he knows in Dortmund, which, according to Owomoyela, looks like a small town, although it is the eighth largest city in Germany.
"Now, Christian has evolved into something that makes him good enough and confident enough to move on to the next stage, without necessarily being placed in this cocoon phase and being protected," Owomoyela said. "No, now he is a star and he must now take a new step: become a star, be treated like a star, feel that pressure and no longer be in this soft tissue environment. He will discover that it is different, but I think he is well prepared for that now because he has had a great development in Dortmund. "
Pulisic will be sorely missed in Dortmund, both on the sporting and the marketing side. But after seeing him create a buzz in the academy and then in the first Dortmund team, Owomoyela is confident that Pulisic will find success in a much bigger stage at Chelsea.
"I noticed he was anxious to prove, and not to himself, that he was ready for the next step," Owomoyela said. "He was always a guy you could talk to easily. He is a little introverted. He is focused. He's determined and I think his determination will help him get to Chelsea from all those big names. "
Why Dortmund?
What made the club the ideal place for Pulisic to develop as a person and as a player?
Owomoyela said that everything started with the academy, led by former Dortmund player Lars Ricken. In a club, the way forward is clear: not only are they not afraid to play their kids, but they are willing to let them play their fouls with the team first.
Before Pulisic, it was with Mario Götze, who had joined the first team at 17 years old. And it continues with Jadon Sancho, the 19-year-old English winger who succeeds Pulisic as the club's next big success.
"They have the chance to prove themselves, not just once, not just to be thrown in there, maybe a bad or another bad match and then," OK, he's not still there, "said Owomoyela. I said. "No, they have a real chance to prove themselves and grow to the next level. And even though Borussia Dortmund is a club that really aims for the greatest possible success. Yet, they know it's part of their story. "
Dortmund is special, said Owomoyela. There is an intimate connection between the fans and the club and the players in a working-clbad town where Owomoyela said that there was "either work, then football, but nothing more" and that the club was revered almost as much as God.
This is one of the things that drew Owomoyela as a player when he went there in 2008, from a Werder Bremen team close to the top of the table, to a Dortmund team ranked 14th, which came back from bankruptcy and sought to rebuild under Jurgen Klopp, coach relatively unknown then.
Shortly after, Dortmund won the league, then the doubles and was in the final of the Champions League. Owomoyela hopes that this wild and miraculous story will resonate with fans based in the United States, now that Pulisic leaves for London.
This is the story he tells during his trip to the United States, from New York to Chicago and elsewhere, as part of his new job as a club ambbadador. That's why Dortmund will be in the United States on a pre-tour this summer and football clinics will be established across the country.
"This is the strategy we are trying to follow knowing that our biggest door opener, our biggest hook for the United States will go," Owomoyela said. I said. "But I think people have already understood what is different from Borussia Dortmund compared to the different German clubs active in the US market."
Bundesliga advantage
While Pulisic is the face of the USMNT team, he is at the center of a young nucleus led by Berhalter. Weston McKennie (Schalke) and Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig), two other young American players who find success in the German Bundesliga, are also at the center of this group.
Owomoyela said in many ways that the league and the young American players were going perfectly well. The league can not afford to beat the EPL and the Spanish Liga with big money transfers. So, while other leagues are spending money, the Bundesliga is creating opportunities for young players.
"It's a cultural thing in the Bundesliga that the teams are young ,. . . and I think that the English, American and Spanish talents would give young people a real chance to play in the Bundesliga, "said Owomoyela, who also comments on Bundesliga broadcasts.
The trio is only cutting their teeth internationally, but with their talent under Berhalter's leadership, Owomoyela thinks the USMNT could be about to create something special that could result in that. he called a "big impact" in the 2026 Cup.
"It's a great chance. Now you have a lot of young talent and you have to have the right way to show them how to do it, "Owomoyela said. "Gregg Berhalter obviously knows football from different angles. He is very experienced and can give these guys good guidance with good influence from the point of view of Europe, but also as an American. This could be a good thing for the next two years. "
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