Christian Pulisic responds to criticism over ‘Trump dance’ after leading USMNT to big win

USMNT star Christian Pulisic has been forced to respond to criticism after he celebrated scoring for the national team by doing the so-called “Trump dance”.

The AC Milan attacking midfielder scored in the 14th minute of his side’s Concacaf Nations League quarter-final second leg clash against Jamaica at the CITYPARK arena in St Louis, Missouri, on Monday.

It was the first goal of a game that Pulisic‘s side went on win 4-2 and clinch a place in the semi-finals.

After scoring, Pulisic broke into President-elect Donald Trump’s signature double-fist-pump dance, with USMNT teammates Weston McKennie and Ricardo Pepi also joining in.

But following the game, Pulisic was asked to explain himself and denied that there was any political intent behind the gesture.

“Well obviously that’s the Trump dance,” he said.

“It was just a dance that everyone’s doing. He’s the one who created it. I just thought it was funny.

“I saw everyone doing it yesterday in the NFL, I saw Jon Jones do it. We’re just having a bit of fun, so I thought it was a pretty fun dance.”

READ MORE ➡️ Liverpool hold strong interest in dazzling Milan raid as new price tag emerges

Pulisic denies endorsing Trump

When pressed on whether his celebration should be interpreted as an endorsement of Trump, Pulisic said: “No, not at all. It’s not a political dance. It was just for fun.

“I saw a bunch of people do it and I thought it was funny, so I enjoyed it. I hope some people did at least.”

The Trump dance certainly took the NFL by storm over the weekend with Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers, Tennessee Titans wide receivers Calvin Ridley and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Detroit Lions defensive duo Za’Darius Smith and Malcolm Rodriguez also getting in on the act.

Pochettino noted that he wasn’t pleased with the way the second half unfolded, with the Reggae Boyz netting twice. He said that his side needed to figure out a way to change the tempo before conceding a goal.

“We didn’t approach the [half] in the way that we wanted,” he said. “We were talking about that the challenge is to win the second half and that was only the thing that was a little bit [worrying]. Not to go to the second half with the same mentality and the same aggressiveness and the approach that we started the first half and that happened. I think we can call it mentality or we can use a different word but I think [these are] things that we still need to improve.”

Meanwhile, USMNT boss Mauricio Pochettino still feels his side has room for improvement after booking their place in the last four of the Concacaf Nations League.

The former Tottenham and Chelsea chief wasn’t pleased with the way the second half unfolded, with the Reggae Boyz netting twice after the US had led 3-0 at the break.

“We didn’t approach the [half] in the way that we wanted,” he said. “We were talking about that the challenge is to win the second half and that was only the thing that was a little bit [worrying]. Not to go to the second half with the same mentality and the same aggressiveness and the approach that we started the first half and that happened.

“I think we can call it mentality or we can use a different word but I think [these are] things that we still need to improve.”