Christian Pulisic called up for USA's World Cup qualifier vs. Guatemala

The meteoric rise of America's top youth player continues. Christian Pulisic, the 17-year-old phenom from Hershey, Pennsylvania, has earned his first ever call-up to the United States Men's National Team today. U.S. Soccer announced that he and Graham Zusi have been added to the roster for Tuesday's World Cup qualifier against Guatemala in Columbus, Ohio.

.@J_Klinsmann has added @gzusi & @cpulisic_10 to the #USMNT roster for Tuesday's qualifier: https://t.co/E5fVmB5LLS pic.twitter.com/iyPFlRDzyI

— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) March 27, 2016

They will be replacing Fabian Johnson and Matt Besler who were both sent home due to injury. Johnson, who was injured before he was even called up, was unable to recover in time to play any part in this set of qualifiers. While Besler sustained an apparent concussion and has been sent back to Kansas City.

For Pulisic, this call-up signifies U.S. Soccer's intention of having him in their setup for the long haul. At such a young age he's already played multiple times for Borussia Dortmund. Pulisic possesses a Croatian passport and could play for the Croatia national team if he so chooses. This call-up is likely an effort to put an end to any doubt about which national team the promising teenager will be representing for the duration of his career. If he appears in this World Cup qualifying match on Tuesday, he'll be tied to the USA for the rest of his playing days.