U.S. soccer fans have been wondering, for years now, whom the next great American-born attacking soccer player would be … someone to carry the torch Landon Donovan bore for more than a decade.

The Next Man may finally be here, and he more properly is a boy rather than a man.

That would be, of course, Christian Pulisic, who on May 28 set a U.S. national team record for youngest player to score an international goal, against Bolivia. Pulisic was all of 17-years-and-252-days old, at the time.

If anything, Pulisic is ahead of where Donovan was at a similar age, and if he can continue to develop he may even threaten Donovan’s record total of 57 national-team goals.

Pulisic seems to have gotten elite-level training at an earlier age than did Donovan, who did most of his learning with the Cal Heat club team before arriving on an international stage at the Fifa Under 17 World Championship in New Zealand, where he was award with the Golden Ball — the “best player” award.

Donovan signed with Bayer Leverkusen and went off to Germany, but he struggled with homesickness and soon was back in the States.

Pulisic at a similar age signed with Borussia Dortmund, one of Germany’s elite teams, but he seemed to settle almost immediately, making his mark with the club’s youth side. By the start of this year, he was training with the first team.

On April 17 he scored against Hamburg, becoming the youngest foreigner to score a Bundesliga goal, and six days later scored against Stuttgart (about 20 seconds into the video) to become the youngest player of any nationality to score two Bundesliga goals.

In this hefty piece, the Guardian recounts Pulisic’s climb to prominence, which seems in large part to have stemmed from his parents’ association with soccer, and with his coach/father exposing him to elite competition from a very young age — when Donovan was playing club ball in California and prep soccer at Redlands East Valley.

Pulisic bears more than a slight resemblance to the young Donovan. Both are 5-foot-8 and an observer might fear for Pulisic’s safety on a pitch with men, just as they might have for the young Landon.

Like Donovan, Pulisic has advanced dribbling and passing skills, and his burst of speed is reminiscent of the young Donovan, too.

He also seems to score opportunistic goals, goals that look easy (breakaways, tap-ins, shots from blocked shots) in part because he seems to anticipate play — again, much like Donovan.

Pulisic was born in Pennsylvania, and spent much of his youth in the U.S., and he certainly is as American as the Fourth of July, certainly in comparison to the German-speaking German-Americans the U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann has been presenting as Yanks throughout his tenure.

How far and how fast Pulisic will go … well, the coming years will tell us that.

But for him to be with the national team (heading into the Copa America this month) and already to have scored two goals for Borussia Dortmund … the kid has a chance to be special, which is what U.S. fans have been looking for.