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Christian Pulisic Leaves 3 Legends Off His USMNT Dream Roster

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Emmanuel Mendez | Last updated Nov 13, 2025 9:32 AM ET

Christian Pulisic remains among the most important players in the current USMNT and is expected to maintain this status ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Pulisic is arguably in the form of his life after his great start to the season with AC Milan.

Pulisic's performances seem to have justified his decision to miss out on the Gold Cup this summer, which caused controversy among the USMNT community. Among the people who criticized his decision were a couple of USMNT legends like Landon Donovan and Tim Howard.

The American forward has played for Mauricio Pochettino's USMNT after the Gold Cup controversy and played in the September and October camps.

With Pulisic missing the November camp due to fitness, the AC Milan star sat with Kate Scott for an interview before the November USMNT games.

Christian Pulisic #10 of the United States plays the ball forward during the international friendly match between the United States and Australia at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on October 14, 2025 in Commerce City, Colorado. (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images)

One of the questions Pulisic was asked was his all-time USMNT five-a-side team, which surprised many due to his exclusions rather than his picks.

Some fans speculate there is still tension with some USMNT legends, as Pulisic did not choose legendary players like Christian Pulisic, Tim Howard, and Clint Dempsey.

Christian Pulisic's Dream USMNT five-a-side Team

Pulisic wanted to avoid any controversy with his picks and picked his team based on players who have played recently, which excludes players like Donovan, Howard, and Dempsey.

One player that Pulisic picked who recently retired from professional soccer was Brad Guzan.

Pulisic names his five players of his dream USMNT five-a-side team, including himself and close teammates.

Pulisic says, "On the spot, let's go with our guy Brad Guzan. Let's give a shout-out to him recently retiring. That's my guy. He had an amazing career. So we'll stick him in goal."

The AC Milan star continued to name the rest of his dream team and said, "I'm just gonna go more recent because they're my guys. Weston [McKennie], Tyler [Adams], me, Brad [Guzan], and then put a big defender in there like [Oguchi] Onyewu."

When asked why he left out players like Donovan and Dempsey, Pulisic says, "I had to do it on the spot. There's a lot of good names out there. They were just my first thoughts."