American soccer wunderkind Christian Pulisic was ineligible for a recent 'Man of the Match' award because he was too young

Martin Meissner/AP

Christian Pulisic celebrating while playing for Borussia Dortmund.

• Christian Pulisic scored two goals for Borussia Dortmund in a recent pre-season match. 
• But because the Man of the Match award was sponsored by Heineken, and Pulisic is not yet 21-years-old, he was unable to win it. 
• The match was being held in the United States, where the drinking age is higher than European countries. 

Christian Pulisic had a sensational performance for Borussia Dortmund in a recent International Champions Cup match against Liverpool, scoring two goals for Dortmund. But, at 19-years-old,  he was not able to win the "Man of the Match" award due to a technicality - he was too young for the beer-sponsored honor.

The International Champions Cup is a series of glorified friendlies and marketing ventures masked as a tournament that is held in America (although there are also matches in Europe this year, and have been matches in Asia in past years), which makes the story more ironic. If the match were being held in Dortmund, Germany, Pulisic would be eligible to drink and thus receive any and all alcohol-branded awards that his talent demands. 

Lack of awards aside, Pulisic's pre-season form is nice to see, as he is coming off of a difficult year by his standards. U.S. Soccer fans, eager to turn the page on failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, should feel especially encouraged.