Christian Pulisic assist helps Borussia Dortmund draw 2-2 with Real Madrid

It’s only natural to think this Christian Pulisic hype train will stop steamrolling toward something American men’s soccer fans have never seen before. After all, he is only now cementing his place in one of the world’s top clubs at Borussia Dortmund and just celebrated his 18th birthday by going to a Justin Bieber concert.

But moments of precociousness keep happening whenever the Pennsylvania native takes the field, whether it’s for club or country.

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The latest highlight came Tuesday when Pulisic came off the bench to single-handedly manufacture a late tying goal in Dortmund’s 2-2 draw with defending champion Real Madrid at Signal Iduna Park.

In the 87th minute, Pulisic weaved his way around and through the Real defense to float a cross into the box that grazed Dani Carvajal’s chest and fell straight to fellow Dortmund sub Andre Schurrle. The German had time to tee up a left-footed blast that easily beat goalkeeper Keylor Navas.

Pulisic replaced another impressive teen Ousmane Dembele in the 73rd minute and wasted no time making an impact with his confident runs and feathery passing. The United States phenom nearly brought Dortmund level in the 83rd minute when he unleashed a blistering strike that forced Navas into a tough save.

Pulisic’s heroics stole some of the spotlight away from Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored the opening goal and, for the time being, put to rest any controversy between him and Real manager Zinedine Zidane.

Much was made over the weekend of Ronaldo being subbed off in Real Madrid’s 2-2 draw at Las Palmas. TV cameras caught Ronaldo expressing his displeasure at Zidane’s decision, later with profanity as the superstar stewed on the bench. Speculation immediately led to talk of a rift in the relationship between player and manager.

But Ronaldo got the start against Dortmund and needed only 17 minutes to produce an opening goal off Gareth Bale’s sweet backheel.

Dortmund dominated early on and should have been given a penalty when Ronaldo stuck out his arm to block a free kick for an obvious handball. However, refree Mark Clattenburg saw nothing.

Dortmund was finally rewarded for its effort in the 43rd minute. Raphael Guerreiro curled a free kick right at Navas, whose clumsy two-hand punch hit center back Raphael Varane in the chest. The ricochet bounced toward the open net, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got a foot on the ball before it crossed completely over the goal line to get credit for the equalizer.

It wasn’t your typical artistic goal by Dortmund, which had outscored the competition 20-2 during a four-game win streak, but Thomas Tuchel’s side gladly accepted it.

Ronaldo appeared to grab the lead back for Real just before the halftime whistle. He beat goalkeeper Roman Burki with a header to the far post, but Ronaldo was clearly offside despite his animated finger wag toward the linesman.

Navas came up big to deny Aubameyang’s curling strike in the 52nd minute. Ronaldo then missed a great chance in the 61st minute when he could only produce a glancing header on a cross to the far post that he typically buries. The 31-year-old later sent a left-footed strike uncharacteristically well off target.

Navas protected the lead by turning away Guerreiro’s blast in the 70th minute. But three minutes later, the game changed when Pulisic came off the bench to give American fans the moment they were waiting for.

With Pulisic’s impressive run of form, highlighted by three consecutive starts over a recent six-day span, the question now for United States men’s national coach Jurgen Klinsmann isn’t whether to start the teenager in the Nov. 11 Hexagonal opener against rival Mexico. No, Klinsmann’s biggest decision now is who will occupy the other attacking spots in his starting XI.

Because, right now, no American is doing what Pulisic is doing – or has ever done, frankly. Not on that big of a European stage anyway and definitely not at that age.