Christian Pulisic sets sights on Revierderby first, but can Weston McKennie steal his USA compatriot's thunder?
When does mixing Royal Blue with Black and Yellow produce Red, White and Blue? When we're talking about the leading Americans in the Revierderby, of course! And the golden aim for current Borussia Dortmund attacker Christian Pulisic is to gain win number one against Weston McKennie and Schalke on Sunday.
Both players faced off for the first time during the spectacular 4-4 draw on Matchday 13. Teenager McKennie was hooked from Domenico Tedesco's faltering visitors at Signal Iduna Park that incredible November day, the Texan lasting just 35 minutes as Schalke sought to stem a ferocious first-half tide that would see them trail 4-0 after a little more than a quarter of the game.
Watch: Dortmund's wonderkid, Christian Pulisic
Pulisic, meanwhile, was on course to celebrate a first-ever win against Dortmund's great rivals, until a second-half comeback that none could have predicted scuppered the Hershey native's celebrations and left him waiting for a much sought after triumph.
"Of course I really want to win the derby. I especially want to win this time after the 4-4 last time out. We're going there to win the match," Pulisic said after finding the net for the fourth time this season in BVB's 3-0 win against Stuttgart last week.
"That was a very important goal for me," the 19-year-old continued. "I always want to score goals. Next week [in the Revierderby] I'll try to get the next one."
Watch: Weston McKennie, Schalke's wonderkid!
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Despite Pulisic and McKennie having failed to break their Revierderby duck thus far, several former USMNT internationals have managed to do so. The most successful American in Germany's biggest derby encounter is Jermaine Jones, the former Schalke midfielder clocking up two wins in Royal Blue following seven appearances in the fixture. A UEFA Cup wining midfielder with Schalke, striker David Wagner, played in a 1995/96 scoreless draw between the teams.
On the opposite side, former Dortmund forward Jovan Kirovski - to date the only American to win the European Cup - enjoyed one Revierderby win when BVB downed Schalke by 3-1 on 11 February 1996. Yet will Pulisic or McKennie be the latest American to join a privileged star-spangled cast and win one of European football's most prestigious fixtures? We're soon to find out!