MILAN (AP) — The United States player pool has never been more prominent in Europe’s top soccer leagues and two of its key players scored on the opening night of the continent’s top competition on Tuesday.
Christian Pulisic marked his upcoming birthday by scoring an early goal to kick off AC Milan’s Champions League campaign.
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AC Milan's Christian Pulisic celebrates scoring his side's opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between AC Milan and Liverpool at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)
Juventus' Weston McKennie celebrates with teammates Federico Gatti, top, and Andrea Cambiaso, right, after scoring his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Juventus and PSV Eindhoven at the Juventus stadium in Turin, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)
Juventus' Weston McKennie celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Juventus and PSV Eindhoven at the Juventus stadium in Turin, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)
AC Milan's Christian Pulisic, center, is congratulated after scoring his side's opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between AC Milan and Liverpool at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
AC Milan's Christian Pulisic, second from right, scores his side's opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between AC Milan and Liverpool at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
AC Milan's Christian Pulisic celebrates scoring his side's opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between AC Milan and Liverpool at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
But that strike, less than three minutes in, was the last thing he had to smile about as Milan went on to lose 3-1 at home to Liverpool in their opening match in the revamped competition.
Pulisic’s performance this season is as good as his team’s is bad.
Milan has won just one of its five matches this season under new coach Paulo Fonseca. Pulisic, who turns 26 on Wednesday, has three goals in that same period with two assists.
“It's another bad result for us, we have to find answers, improve and win matches,” Pulisic said after the loss to Liverpool.
“We had the right energy at times but we couldn’t keep it up consistently ... it's been a difficult start to the season for us, we're not happy and we have to change things.”
Pulisic was not the only American to find the back of the net on Tuesday. And it was a happier night for USMNT teammate Weston McKennie, who scored Juventus’ second during a 3-1 win over PSV Eindhoven in an earlier match.
Three other Americans also featured on the opening day of the revamped Champions League, with Ricardo Pepi, Malik Tillman and Richie Ledezma playing for PSV.
More of their compatriots — such as Borussia Dortmund’s Gio Reyna and injured Juventus forward Tim Weah — could feature later this week or further on in the competition.
With so many players competing at club soccer’s highest level, that can only be good news for new U.S coach Mauricio Pochettino as the Americans ramp up for a home World Cup in 2026.
Pulisic was the first American to play in a Champions League final when he won the competition with Chelsea in 2021.
He moved to Milan before the start of last season and had an impressive debut campaign at the Italian team, with 15 goals across all competitions.
That made Pulisic the first midfielder to score more than 10 goals for Milan — excluding penalties — since Kaka in the 2005-06 season.
Kaka was at San Siro for Tuesday's match and gave a short speech to the Rossoneri fans before kickoff. The former Brazil international — and World Cup winner — spent six seasons at Milan, helping it to its last Champions League title in 2007.
Pulisic has made a flying start to the current season too, with two goals and two assists in Milan's four opening Serie A matches.
He'll need to continue that streak to help Milan kickstart its campaign, with another key match in just five days: the city derby against fierce rival — and defending Serie A champion — Inter Milan.
“It's a huge game for us,” Pulisic added. “And we have to give everything, fight and turn things around.”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
AC Milan's Christian Pulisic celebrates scoring his side's opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between AC Milan and Liverpool at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)
Juventus' Weston McKennie celebrates with teammates Federico Gatti, top, and Andrea Cambiaso, right, after scoring his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Juventus and PSV Eindhoven at the Juventus stadium in Turin, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)
Juventus' Weston McKennie celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Juventus and PSV Eindhoven at the Juventus stadium in Turin, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)
AC Milan's Christian Pulisic, center, is congratulated after scoring his side's opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between AC Milan and Liverpool at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
AC Milan's Christian Pulisic, second from right, scores his side's opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between AC Milan and Liverpool at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
AC Milan's Christian Pulisic celebrates scoring his side's opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between AC Milan and Liverpool at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) — Lindsey Vonn was not about to put everything on the line in her first World Cup race back after more than five years of retirement.
Not with her history of crashes and injuries.
Not with her new titanium knee.
Not at age 40.
Vonn took a low-risk approach and finished 14th in a super-G on Saturday, crossing 1.18 seconds behind Austrian winner Cornelia Huetter.
“This was the perfect start,” Vonn said. “Today is just the first step and I’m not looking for more. Today I really needed to get to the finish. I wanted to have a solid result. And that’s exactly what I did.
“There’s definitely a lot that I have left to give," Vonn added. "Today was not the day to try to do anything special.”
Still, when Vonn came down, the crowd of Swiss-flag-waving fans turned silent in anticipation and all of the other top skiers watched her run on a perfectly clear day in the Alps.
“To have her back on the world stage is just fantastic,” said Sophie Goldschmidt, president and CEO of U.S. Ski and Snowboard. “Just the attention she’s bringing to the sport and the role model she is — it’s a big day.
“These kind of moments transcend outside of just sports. We see it with Mikaela (Shiffrin) and what she’s done recently, which is just superhuman as well, setting all those records."
Vonn lost time early in her run but nearly matched the top finishers in the middle and bottom section of the Corviglia course.
When she reached the finish and saw her time, Vonn flashed a wide smile and waved to the crowd.
“I didn’t risk anything with the line. I was a little bit conservative in some sections, but overall I skied really well. Now I just need my top section to be a little faster and I’ll be in really good shape,” said Vonn, who is planning to race another super-G in St. Moritz on Sunday.
Vonn finished less than a second off the podium, which also included Olympic champion Lara Gut-Behrami in second place, 0.18 behind Huetter, and Sofia Goggia in third, 0.33 back.
“I’m really close to being there," Vonn said. "I’m just not quite there yet.”
Vonn started No. 31 under a new wild card rule for former champions. But that still meant going after all of the current top-ranked skiers had raced.
“The course was a little bit bumpy when I went and so some sections I was a little bit more conservative with my line," she said. “But in some sections I was really fast.”
Vonn had to cut her career short in 2019 due to a series of crashes and injuries, but then she had knee replacement surgery in April and had two titanium pieces inserted into her right knee. Her knee feels better than it has in years, so she decided to come back.
“The last few years of my career were so much different than they are right now," Vonn said. "I’m skiing without thinking about my knee, which I really haven’t done since I first tore my ACL in 2013. So it’s been a long time that I felt this good and I’m a little bit older, but honestly, I’m a hell of a lot stronger than I once was.”
Eight-time overall World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher also took advantage of the wild card rule and returned this season after five years away. But then Hirscher tore his left ACL while training in giant slalom and announced earlier this month that his comeback season was done.
Vonn left the tour with 82 World Cup wins — the record for a woman at the time and within reach of the then all-time Alpine mark of 86 held by Swedish standout Ingemar Stenmark. The women’s record held by Vonn was eclipsed last year by Shiffrin, who now has an outright record 99 wins.
Shiffrin, who shares the record of five wins in St. Moritz with Vonn, isn’t racing this weekend as she recovers from abdominal surgery to clean out a puncture wound she sustained in a crash last month.
Vonn is attempting to enter unchartered territory in terms of success at an advanced age in women’s skiing.
The oldest woman to win a World Cup race was Federica Brignone, the Italian who won the giant slalom in Soelden, Austria, in October to start this season, at age 34.
“It’s super impressive,” said Vonn’s U.S. teammate Jacqueline Wiles, noting that Vonn didn’t have as much preseason preparation as other skiers. “If anybody could do it, she could. The more she gets comfortable and gets kind of back up to speed, she’s going to be right in there.”
So will Vonn charge harder on Sunday?
“Step by step,” Vonn said. “Patience.”
AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
Italy's Sofia Goggia, left, hugs United States' Lindsey Vonn after Vonn competed in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Lindsey Vonn celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Lindsey Vonn competes in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
United States' Lindsey Vonn celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Lindsey Vonn, right, is congratulated by Red Bull Head of Athletes Special Projects Patrick Riml after she competed in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Lindsey Vonn celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Lindsey Vonn celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Lindsey Vonn, right, smiles after completing an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Til Buergy/Keystone via AP)
United States' Lindsey Vonn looks on before competing in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Lindsey Vonn looks on before competing in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Lindsey Vonn looks on before competing in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Lindsey Vonn does a course inspection before competing in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
United States' Lindsey Vonn concentrates during the course inspection before competing in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
United States' Lindsey Vonn concentrates during the course inspection before competing in an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
