Pulisic returns – Christian Pulisic rejoined full training with the U.S. on Monday in Irvine, Calif., after missing the team’s most recent World Cup match with a calf injury. He returned for warmups and ball drills during the 15 minutes open to media, while the Americans prepar
IRVINE, Calif. — Christian Pulisic came back to the U.S. setup on Monday, joining his teammates on the training ground after missing the Americans’ most recent World Cup match with a calf injury.
The return wasn’t a full reveal of his condition, though. Pulisic took part in warmups and ball drills during the 15 minutes of practice open to the media at Great Park in Orange County. The team did not provide a formal update on the status of the AC Milan midfielder. who has been limited to just one dynamic half of play in an unbeaten U.S. side at the home World Cup.
He missed Friday’s 2-0 win over Australia in Seattle. Before that. Pulisic played the first half of the tournament-opening 4-1 victory over Paraguay. where he catalyzed two of the U.S. team’s three first-half goals in a historic start. He came off at halftime after stiffness arrived from the injury he picked up the previous week in training.
During the workouts between the first two games. Pulisic trained away from the rest of the group. doing gym work. resistance training and light ball work. That meant Monday’s move back into the full squad’s session carried obvious weight for a team that is still trying to keep its rhythm while nursing fitness concerns.
Alex Zendejas spoke Monday about the human side of living with a knock in a tournament where every player feels the pressure to be ready.
“It’s a tough situation when you’re going through a small, little knock,” Zendejas said. “It’s an important tournament where obviously everyone wants to be able to get out there 100%. but (we don’t) talk about the injury or talk about the moment (Pulisic) is going through. (We) talk about other stuff, try to get his mind off of it. Just be there for him.”.
The U.S. now closes group play on Thursday night at SoFi Stadium against Turkey. For the Americans, it is a meaningless game in terms of group standing because they are group-winning, while Turkey are already eliminated.
But the stakes sharpen quickly once the group stage ends. The Americans’ first knockout match is on July 1 in Santa Clara, California.
Even with Pulisic back in the session, the training picture still wasn’t fully complete. U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino did not have his entire roster on the field at Great Park. Midfielder Cristian Roldan missed practice with a strained muscle.
Christian Pulisic U.S. national team World Cup calf injury Alex Zendejas Mauricio Pochettino Turkey vs United States Cristian Roldan AC Milan
So he’s back or not? Calf injuries always linger, I’m confused.
I feel like they said he’d be 100% and then he’s still doing “ball drills” like that’s not a big deal. If he misses again we’re cooked in the next round.
Wait he missed the Australia game but is training with the full squad? That’s actually a good sign, right? Or maybe they just put him there for cameras and he’s still not really good.
Turkey game “meaningless” but of course everyone’s gonna hype it up and risk injuries anyway. Also Pochettino not having the whole roster… sounds like the team’s falling apart. I swear every tournament we got someone with a knock like it’s routine.