In Christian Pulisic’s diverse range of USMNT highlights, one thing is hard to spot: a smile.
Since making his senior international debut as a 17-year-old in March 2016, his efforts have frequently been met with frustration.
As a program prodigy, he was on the field in Trinidad the following year when the United States failed to qualify for a World Cup for the first time since Ronald Reagan was president. The man couldn’t even properly celebrate his long-awaited first World Cup goal in 2022; his effort to nudge the ball beyond Iran’s goalline left him in a crumpled heap as he suffered a pelvic contusion during that incident.
In between those milestone moments were countless others that, while less consequential, projected a curmudgeonly inner monologue.
GO DEEPER
A win, a clean sheet, but too many chances missed - USMNT need to be more ruthless
Any sequence that ended in an errant shot by himself or a teammate elicited a scowl and a flail of his arms. Here he was, the anointed savior of the USMNT, the undisputed best attacker since the heyday of Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey — but so often, it seemed like he didn’t enjoy that distinction.
Advertisement
Less than three minutes into his team’s involvement at the 2024 Copa America, Pulisic flashed a leading man’s grin, arms outstretched in elation as he ran to the touchline to celebrate. He had just scored against Bolivia on a brilliantly orchestrated corner kick, as an initial short-range give-and-go with Tim Weah set himself up for a 22-yard looping finish off the underside of the crossbar.
CP10 🚀🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/OC4aHGD25P
— CONMEBOL Copa América™️ ENG (@copaamerica_ENG) June 23, 2024
Pulisic beelined to find his intended partner in celebration — not someone by his team’s bench, but seemingly sitting high up in a box at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium. Was it a romantic interest? Were his parents positioned for a proud family moment? Eventually, the cameras caught his question to head coach Gregg Berhalter and assistant BJ Callaghan: “Where’s Gianni?”
No, Pulisic isn’t best buddies with Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s president and an all-timer at “feeling” a range of identities. Instead, it was set-piece coach Gianni Vio he was looking for. While the great Italian artists of old crafted fresco paintings and towering concrete constructions, Vio works with soccer players, choreographing dead-ball moves. The final product can also be stunning and worthy of widespread adoration.
The 71-year-old joined the USMNT setup in October last year, having previously been a set-piece coach for European clubs including Fiorentina, AC Milan, Leeds United and, most recently, Tottenham Hotspur under compatriot Antonio Conte. He also helped curate Italy’s set plays for their triumphant run at the previous European Championship three years ago, which saw them score three of their 13 goals from dead-ball situations en route to the title.
“Gianni’s got so many moves,” former midfielder Davide Baiocco told The Athletic in 2021, reminiscing on their time together at Italian club Catania. “He likes the element of surprise and has lots of players coordinate their movement at the same time.”
GO DEEPER
Gianni Vio on the art of set pieces: 'They are a game within the game'
Often, indirect free kicks and corner kicks are assumed to be a crapshoot to be won by a team’s most brutish combatants. Conventional wisdom — whether straight from the corner or with a couple of short passes as a prelude — is that a taker should lob the ball into the mixer and hope their teammates win the ensuing aerial duel. It’s essentially a schoolyard game of 500, except this time you’re forbidden from catching the ball. Not exactly something requiring hours of study.
Advertisement
How wasteful a team can be when presented with such a chance to score. In a sport where the outcome of a match is so often decided by a side’s capitalization in transition moments and fluid game states, these static situations require deft precision. A selfless run at the right time can completely thwart an opponent’s preparation — and, perhaps, flip a result altogether.
For nearly a decade, it’s been en vogue to find a specialist coach such as Vio to design sequences for more dependable chance creation. England caught the bug before the 2018 World Cup, when manager Gareth Southgate observed NBA set plays. He and his staff worked on their own blueprints, helping spark a run to the semifinals in Russia.
Clubs and national teams alike have made this a growing industry for set-piece savants. Rather than claim it’s all up to the coach involved, Vio still feels credit ultimately belongs with his players. After all, he’s not the one standing over the ball to restart the action.
“We can speak about different analyses, but it’s the player (the set-piece taker) that makes the difference, 100 percent,” Vio told The Athletic in 2023. “If the coach has time to train certain routines, the players will obviously improve, but if you have a Harry Kane in your team, you’re going to score more goals — it’s the same if you had (West Ham United’s free-kick specialist) James Ward-Prowse. The taker is the most important player in the set pieces.”
Pulisic is seemingly Vio’s latest muse, and his opening goal on Sunday was indeed a masterpiece. The elation across his face and their distanced celebration show that the two men are revelling in this summer’s project.
So often, a corner-kick sequence only begins once a team’s tallest members are stationed in the box. Here, though, before center-back Tim Ream is even 25 yards from goal, Pulisic elects to give the ball a short prod toward Weah before arcing toward the box. Goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra sees three opponents lurking at his far post and instructs his defenders to shift their focus accordingly, opening even more terrain in the half of the box nearest to Weah.
Meanwhile, Pulisic carries his momentum toward the corner of the box, with Weah taking the opponent’s full attention. The ball is passed back to Pulisic, with two Bolivians now scrambling to close him down.
To his credit, Viscarra is positioned well to cover nearly his entire net if Pulisic takes a quick shot. Instead, he takes the patient approach, slaloming towards a more central position while evading the oncoming pressure.
After directing Ream to join the herd at Viscarra’s far post, Tyler Adams gestures that he is open to receive the ball just outside the box. Perhaps he is as oblivious to Pulisic’s intentions as Bolivia’s defense. Or, given Vio’s expertise, he may selling the deception by acting blissfully unaware. Whatever the case, it draws another opponent out of position — pulling another defender in the wrong direction to create chaos in front of Viscarra.
The broadcast’s overhead Spidercam provides another angle that shows just how much space has been created as the majority of the USMNT loiters by the far post, decluttering a shooting lane for Pulisic.
This is where the coordinated movement comes into play, as Gio Reyna picks up on Pulisic’s intention. So often, Reyna is dishing out assists with the ball at his feet. Here, he’s offering a helper without making contact with the ball.
At 6ft 1in (185cm), Reyna is tall enough to obscure Viscarra’s visibility as Pulisic winds up. He hops to his right just as Pulisic unfurls his shot — which ultimately takes a slight flick off of Viscarra’s fingers before kissing the underside of the crossbar on its way into the net.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Pulisic benefit from his teammates’ off-ball movement on a set piece this month.
Advertisement
In the USMNT’s final tune-up friendly, they trailed Brazil 1-0 in the 26th minute when the referee awarded them a free kick from just outside the box. Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker capably constructed his wall, but some last-second shifting by Weah and Yunus Musah left a gap for Pulisic to exploit.
The simplicity of movements like these goes to illustrate how fine the margins are between a successful free kick and a missed opportunity.
Despite scoring this tournament’s first set-piece goal, it’s a stretch to say that Pulisic is suddenly one of the world’s best dead-ball aces — at least not yet. But after years of fruitless free-kick service, he’s now scored from them in consecutive starts.
After that goal on Sunday, Bolivia committed an additional defender to prevent a second such concession. Weah wisened up, still staying close to the corner before darting to the edge of the box as Pulisic began his approach. Perhaps it’s a preview of their next work of art — though knowing Vio, he’ll have a dozen new ideas before Thursday’s second group game against Panama in Atlanta.
It’s all a work in progress, but one already yielding its intended result.
For most of his international career, Pulisic has played like he is carrying his team on his back. Sometimes, that burden has kept him from being able to express himself or be his most impactful version.
At last, he has the support to ease that pressure and allow him to play freely — in terms of his teammates’ caliber and, now, specialized support from coaches such as Vio.
No wonder he’s smiling so brightly.
GO DEEPER
The 2024 Christian Pulisic: Leader, superstar... change maker?
(Top photo: Aric Becker/AFP via Getty Images)