SEATTLE — Christian Pulisic trained apart from the rest of the U.S. men’s soccer team Thursday, the fourth straight day he has done so because of an injury to his left calf, and it’s unclear whether the attacking midfielder will be available Friday afternoon when the Americans face Australia in the second World Cup game for both teams.
U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said Pulisic is in a “much better” spot than he was last Friday, when he was replaced at halftime of the Americans’ 4-1 victory over Paraguay in a Group D opener after feeling stiffness from the calf injury he had previously incurred in practice. Pochettino said Pulisic’s availability for Friday’s match at Seattle’s Lumen Field would be determined after the coach and his assistants met with the team’s performance staff Thursday night.
“We’ll see,” Pochettino said. “At the moment, we’ll see. If he’s not available for tomorrow, he will be available for the next game.”
The Americans will play their third and final Group D match against Turkey on June 25 at SoFi Stadium, the Los Angeles-area venue where they rolled past Paraguay to open this 48-team World Cup they’re hosting with Canada and Mexico. Australia and the U.S. have three points apiece in the Group D standings, with the Socceroos beating Turkey 2-0 last weekend.
Pulisic did not work out with his teammates earlier this week at their base in Orange County, nor did he Thursday morning at Husky Soccer Stadium on the University of Washington campus. Before the Americans warmed up, Pulisic huddled with his teammates while wearing a compression sleeve on his calf, then went inside to do individual work in the gym.