U.S. men’s national team manager Mauricio Pochettino struck an optimistic tone when the topic of Christian Pulisic’s fitness was raised this week.
The royally in-form forward was named as a substitute for the USMNT’s 1–1 draw with Ecuador on Friday night after struggling with an ankle issue. Pulisic was fit enough to feature for the final 17 minutes of a performance which was universally lauded despite the disappointing nature of the result.
Speaking the day before his side take on Australia in a marquee friendly on Tuesday night, Pochettino was positive about Pulisic’s condition. “I think the reaction after the 20 minutes playing [against Ecuador], I think was good,” the Argentine boss noted.
“His ankle I think reacted very well and just hope that tomorrow he can be available. We need to wait today for the reaction too, but I think it’s much better than when we he arrived.”
Fulham left back Antonee Robinson—whose return to the roster was one of the big positives from Pochettino’s squad announcement—has been carrying a knee problem throughout the international break. “Antonee is, from the beginning of the camp, he’s with some small issue in his knee, a little bit of pain,” the 53-year-old lamented.
“We are managing him in the best way, but he still cannot be involved in training and for sure tomorrow cannot be involved in the game. I hope that it’s not an important thing, but [can] come back to his club and can be in a normal way there training.”
Pulisic Aiming to Transfer Club Form to USMNT
Pulisic is enjoying the form of his career for AC Milan. The perennially outspoken pundit Alexi Lalas is—for once—not alone in his opinion that the U.S. forward is the best player at San Siro.
Milan’s rampant two-way threat boasts four goals and two assists across his opening six Serie A appearances this season—no player in Italy’s top flight has directly contributed to more goals—thriving under Massimiliano Allegri’s more pared-back approach.
For all of the enthusiasm about Folarin Balogun’s strong showing against Ecuador, the USMNT will need Pulisic to begin replicating his club form on the international stage if they are to harbor ambitions of making a deep run in this summer’s World Cup.
The national team’s No. 10 hasn’t scored a goal for his country since Nov. 19, 2024.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mauricio Pochettino Delivers Verdict on Christian Pulisic’s USMNT Availability vs. Australia.
