BACK IN 1999 a group of U.S. U-17ers traveled to New Zealand for the World Cup. It had been a dark period for American soccer, with the national team coming off an embarrassing 1998 World Cup in France and legitimate fears that a nascent Major League Soccer could collapse.

And then that U-17 team changed everything. Not well covered at the time, it was led by players like Kyle Beckerman, DaMarcus Beasley, Oguchi Onyewu and, most importantly, U-17 World Cup Golden Ball-winner Landon Donovan. Those stars-to-be in turn led it to the semifinals and put U.S. soccer back on the map and back on track.

While most American soccer fans are focused on the U-23 team’s Olympic qualifying bid (starting Thursday) and the CONCACAF Cup (Oct. 10), the latest iteration of the U.S. U-17s will open its 2015 World Cup campaign on October 17 in Chile. These youngsters, like Beasley and Donovan before them, will be looking to establish themselves as the next generation of U.S. stars.

At the forefront of the U.S. U-17 team is Christian Pulisic, who occupies the No. 10 role for Borussia Dortmund’s U-19 side. The Hershey, Pa., native played last season for Dortmund’s U-17 team, and his numbers—six goals and five assists in just eight games—were nothing short of eye-opening.

The recent step up in age group hasn’t slowed Pulisic’s production. He has notched a goal and three assists in his first five games and has been given a huge degree of freedom on the field to roam and make plays.

The hype surrounding Pulisic is profound and growing—in fact, It’s unlikely that any U-17 American player has faced expectations this high since Donovan himself.

“I’ve definitely heard about it, but I don’t put any extra pressure on myself because of a club I’m at,” Pulisic told American Soccer Now of the hype. “I just always try to play the same game. There is definitely pressure on our team and I have heard it all, but with those guys on the national team, there is no way I should feel pressure with that talent around me.

“We always just said we want to make our own history,” he added. “Whatever happens, we’re ready for it.”

Pulisic’s emphasis on teamwork is admirable but if the U-17s are going to find success in Chile the young playmaker will almost certainly be central to these efforts: Over the past two calendar years he has posted 19 goals and 11 assists in 28 games.

Richie Williams’ team faces a difficult draw. Following the tournament opener against defending champion Nigeria, the U.S. will face a talented Croatian team and then, in the group-stage finale, a matchup with host Chile.

The foes are familiar: So far this cycle, the U.S. team has posted two 1-0 wins over Croatia as well as a 2-2 draw against Chile.

“First of all, seeing the groups that came out, we’re not by any means scared of our opponents or anything like that,” Pulisic said. “We’re very excited about our group, and we’ve played two out of the three teams, which is good. We’ve had some good competition getting ready for these tournaments, and I’ve been able to take part in some of those. We’re definitely looking forward to the challenge.

“We’ve shown we can compete with anyone. There is no reason why we can’t go down there and do really well and even win the World Cup. It’s never going to be easy, but we can accomplish it.”

Besides Pulisic, fellow U-17 standouts Luca de la Torre (Fulham) and Danny Barbir (West Bromwich Albion) are also based in Europe, moves likewise enabled largely by their dual European Union citizenship.

The transition abroad can still be difficult for many young players. Pulisic, for his part, has been helped by the fact that his family followed him to Germany. (His father, Mark Pulisic, a former professional player, is as an assistant youth coach for Dortmund’s U-10 team.)

Continuity at home allowed Pulisic to focus on making adjustments on the field—an ongoing process at the powerful German club.

“It’s mostly that intensity where every second of the game you have to be ready to go in for that hard tackle,” Pulisic said. “There’s always pressure.”

That pressure to perform well, however, does not necessarily include scoring goals.

“My coach always tells me that a great game doesn’t mean you score as long as you are creating chances and doing everything you can to create goal-scoring chances for your team,” he said. “As long as you are working as hard as you can and you don’t have any regrets at the end of the game, then you are doing your job.”

All indications are that Pulisic’s future is bright with the club. Three weeks ago Borussia Dortmund’s first team was set to take on St. Pauli of the 2.Bundesliga. But with many players missing due to the international break, Dortmund’s head coach, Thomas Tuchel, had to experiment a bit.

Pulisic, then 10 days shy of his 17th birthday, was named to the team, came on at the start of the second half, and played well in a 2-1 win.

Since getting his first taste of first-team action with one of Europe’s biggest clubs, and with the U-17 World Cup just a few weeks away, Pulisic appears ready to step into the spotlight—even if that kind of personal glory isn’t quite what he’s aiming for.

“I just want this national team to do well in the World Cup,” he said. “I know that if we all do well, everyone will remember the names and the kids who really gave it everything.”