Supercoppa Champions
An incredible story has come from our AC Milan players, Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah. The pair played pivotal roles in two dramatic comeback victories against bitter rivals to secure their first trophy with the historic AC Milan. Christian started the new year on the sideline from a calf injury he picked up in December with concerns of not exactly knowing when he will return, as we discussed in Episode 8. However, he managed to suit up against Juventus in the semi-final and the final against Inter Milan. Yunus was incredibly impactful as well across these two matches, subbing in against Juve, and starting in the final.
Stepping up when it matters most, Christian Pulisic. AC Milan went down in the 21st and struggled to find any sort of real opportunities in the attack for the first half of the semi-final vs Juventus. However in the 69th minute after an excellent slide tackle by a Juventus defender, Savona, almost every player on the pitch seemed to give up on the play, except for one particular player who we know from Hershey, Pennsylvania. Christian absolutely hunted down the ball at the top corner of the 18-yard box, and took a touch before being swiped down by Locatelli for a penalty kick. After the drama with the Milan penalty kick taker back in October, it is clear as day who would be stepping up for this. Pulisic takes responsibility and strikes this shot like we’ve never seen before, high and down the middle. The keeper only managed to get a weak glove on the ball before it ripped into the back of the net. *Don’t worry Christian, we won’t talk about Weston flicking the ball over your head.
They all count the same, Yunus Musah. AC Milan manager, Sergio Conceicao, took a chance on subbing Yunus Musah into the match just 53 minutes into the fixture, which is considered an early substitution for professional soccer. Minutes after Milan equalize, Yunus has a burst of energy down the right hand side of the pitch and he finds himself in a 3v3 situation on the counter. Looking up to see his American counterpart and Tammy Abraham sprinting in for a cross, he attempts to curl the ball to one of the two, but it ends up taking a massive deflection, completely throwing Juve goalkeeper Di Gregoroio off as the ball skips into the goal for Milan to take the lead. The game ends 2-1 in Milan’s favor so they advance to the final against no other, Inter Milan.
The comeback. Similar to the Supercopa de España, the final was played in Riyad, Saudi Arabia. And similar to the Supercopa final with Barcelona and Real Madrid, this game was a thrilling blockbuster.
Another first half of back and forth play, AC Milan found themselves losing 0-1 in stoppage time after some frantic defending, and a composed finish from World Cup winner Lautaro Martinez. You have to wonder what was said during the half-time speech from Sergio Conceicao because after what could be the worst start to a second half, conceding in two short minutes, the AC Milan team decided enough was enough.
Theo Hernandez got things started in the 51st minute with a unique free kick technique that beat the goalkeeper at his near post. From this point on the red and black stripes had finally woken up and started to play some beautiful soccer. Near misses and brave defending from both sides were at full force as each team was trying to get their hands on the Supercoppa trophy.
AC Milan and Christian Pulisic had 2 attackers against 4 defenders in the box in the 79th minute, but just like we saw in the semi-final against Juventus, Christian makes a determined run across them all to connect with the cross for a quick touch and finish, both with his left foot, to the back post to equalize. Game on.
Three minutes into the five total minutes of stoppage time, Christian finds himself on the right side of the pitch, trying to find anyway to break down this Inter defense before the final whistle goes. Puli threads a through ball to a clever run from Portuguese star Rafael Leão who ‘Özil chops’ the ball to Tammy Abraham for a wide open tap-in, 3-2.
Games like these make you love watching the sport, and it brings us, and so many USMNT fans, so much joy when we can watch our players at the heart of these games, battling for their clubs, and making their mark in the soccer world.
