Watch Christian Pulisic's appearances on Jimmy Fallon and CBS

United States men’s national team star Christian Pulisic made an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday night. The interview was scheduled to help promote an upcoming friendly between AC Milan and Manchester City. Pulisic joined the Italian club just last summer from Chelsea for around $22 million.

The matchup between the European giants is set for Saturday, July 27th. While any preseason friendly between the two top teams is noteworthy, this weekend’s game will be played at Yankee Stadium. The famous arena nestled in the Bronx is the current home of baseball’s New York Yankees and MLS side NYCFC.

Pulisic began the discussion with the former Saturday Night Live star by claiming that he had a strong feeling that he would be a professional player as a kid. Fallon asked the Milan forward at what age he knew his soccer dreams would be fulfilled. “I mean, my first memories are with a soccer ball,” replied Pulisic. “Pro? Maybe 6 or 7, when I moved over to England.”

This particular time of the American’s life came when his mother was an exchange teacher working in England. The Pulisic family only stayed across the pond for one year though. The USMNT star’s parents, however, had a major impact on his soccer journey.

Both of the Pulisic parents played college soccer at George Mason University. The Milan attacker’s father then went on to play professional indoor soccer. Despite this, Pulisic told Fallon that his “mom was arguably the better soccer player of the two.”

Milan star says goal celebration came from tattoo artist

Pulisic went on to later talk about his famed tiger tattoo and goal celebration. The 25-year-old star regularly covers his own eyes with the eyes of the tiger on his arm during goal celebrations. The move was even previously included in the EA Sports FC 24 video game.

When asked about it, Pulisic revealed that the celebration idea came from his tattoo artist. “Funny thing is, actually, that wasn’t the plan,” continued the forward. “It wasn’t for the celebration. But when we were doing it, the tattoo artist was saying ‘Hold it up like this. I want to make sure that if you ever want to do [the celebration], that it’ll line up perfectly, you know, with your eyes.'”

Pulisic promises to do a special celebration if he scores on Saturday

Fallon then asked Pulisic if he could do a specific celebration if he could find the back of the net on Saturday. “Could you do the Three Amigos salute if you score?” questioned the talk show host. Along with asking the Milan star about the celebration, Fallon also stood up to demonstrate the dance.

The reference is to the 1986 comedy Three Amigos, starring Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short. The movie had reasonable success upon its release at the time but has since become a cult classic among comedy fans. Pulisic agreed to do the celebration at the weekend against City.

Despite his previous struggles at Chelsea, Pulisic has seemingly found a home at Milan. The forward scored 15 goals and added 11 assists in his freshman season in Italy. His 12 Serie A scores during the 2023/24 season were his career-high in a domestic league. Fans will be hoping that Pulisic can score on Saturday to fulfill the request by Fallon.

Pulisic also appeared on CBS Mornings alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic:

PHOTOS: IMAGO