Christian Pulisic took advantage of the 2026 Winter Olympics taking place in his home city, as the AC Milan star was in attendance for the USA’s 5-1 win over Germany in men’s hockey on Sunday, Feb. 15.
Pulisic was in the stands at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena as the USA earned a bye into Wednesday’s quarterfinals with a dominant win.
The U.S. men’s national team forward returned from a brief injury lay-off on Friday, Feb. 13, coming off the bench as Milan defeated Pisa 2-1 to maintain its Serie A title challenge.
Pulisic made it back to Milan in time to catch the USA in action, taking time to give an interview to the NHL’s in-house media channel along the way.
The USMNT star estimated he’d been to ‘less than 10, 15’ hockey games in his life, most of which were the minor league Hershey Bears in his Pennsylvania hometown.
Pulisic said that having the Olympics in Milan was providing him with extra motivation with the World Cup coming to the United States this summer.
‘Just seeing some of these guys doing what they’re doing, competing at the highest level in their sport, supporting team USA, it definitely gives me that extra drive and gets me excited for the summer,’ he said.
Pulisic also spoke about the difference between playing in high-pressure competitions for AC Milan and the USMNT.
‘There’s always pressure in some of the biggest competitions, whether club or country. But I think when you play for your country, you always have that little extra sense of pride representing team USA,’ he said.
‘It’s the best thing you can do. It’s the most proud I am when I’m playing. So it’s similar, but definitely something special when you play for your country.’