Puliscic’s decision to sit has paid off

Team captain stirred controversy by not playing for the U.S. in the Gold Cup.

- By KEvIN BAXTER

JONATHAN MOSCROP Getty Images CHRISTIAN PULISIC of AC Milan exults after scoring against US Lecce.

When Christian Pulisic, captain of the national soccer team, announced last spring that he would choose rest over representing his country in the CON-CACAF Gold Cup —the last major tournament before next summer's World Cup — the blowback was fierce and frequently personal.

He played a career-high 3,650 minutes for AC Milan last season and appeared in 118 games for club and country in the previous 22 months. He needed a break, he said, to rest mind and body.

Yet the decision to take that break was attacked as selfish, egotistical and an act of betrayal.

“Not wanting to play in the Gold Cup, it’s pissing me off,” Landon Donovan, the national team’s all-time leader in assists and co-leader in goals, said of the timing.

“I just can't fathom tumn-ing down the privilege of representing my country,” added Alexi Lalas, a former national team defender.

Four months later, however, it appears Pulisic made the right decision. Seven weeks into the new season, a rested and reinvigorated Pulisic leads Italy’s Serie A with four goals to go with two assists. He’s scored six times in all competition, the best start toa season in his l-year career.