IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — Christian Pulisic trained away from his U.S. teammates for the third day in a row Wednesday because of a calf injury, raising concerns about whether he will be available for Friday’s World Cup second game against Australia.
Pulisic played dynamically in the first half. 4-1 victory for the Americans He played in the game against Paraguay last week, but was forced to leave at half-time after injuring his calf and feeling stiffness during training. He has not been training with his teammates this week at their training base in Orange County. Mainly doing personal work at the gym.
Pulisic was unable to do any exercise on the grass on Tuesday, but the AC Milan attacker took to the field at Great Park with a trainer and did some ball drills on Wednesday. During the 15-minute practice session, which was open to the media, he tested the condition of his left foot by wearing a compression sleeve on his calf.
Brenden Aaronson, one of the candidates to replace Pulisic, said: “Obviously we would love to have Christian back in the game.” “I don’t really know exactly what’s going on, but I know he’s going to do everything he can to get back on the team and play, so we’ll see. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the contract goes.”
Pulisic is the most accomplished player on the U.S. team and the cornerstone of the attack. His playmaking and ball skills on the left led to Paraguay’s own goal in the opening minutes last Friday, and he added an assist at the end of the game. Folarin Balogun’s first goal.
His absence could prevent the team from achieving their highest-scoring World Cup performance With the waves of momentum The beginning of the home World Cup. But Pulisic’s teammates are confident he will do everything in his power to play and feel the squad’s depth will hold up in what could be a physical match against the Socceroos in Seattle.
“We still have a few days to find out his status,” U.S. left back Anthony Robinson said. “Thankfully, we have a lot of players on the bench who are keen to help the team with quality. This is a long competition. If we don’t have[Pulisic]in the game, we need to make sure he’s available for the rest of the game, because we’re going to need him. We’re going to need everyone. But I hope he’s there[on Friday].”
US manager Mauricio Pochettino will have several viable options to replace Pulisic, but the star’s background is still unclear. Starting midfielder Weston McKennie, who had a great game against Paraguay, could have increased responsibility as well.
The top two options appear to be Aaronson, a solid Premier League winger who scored four goals and provided five assists for Leeds last season, and Marseille forward Tim Weah, who can influence games with his speed on either wing.
However, both players hope Pulisic is healthy enough to maintain his spot in the lineup.
“For me, Christian is one of the top five wingers in the world,” Weah said. “He’s one of my favorite players to watch. It’s great to play with him for a long time. He’s a very humble player, just to do little things. I think he gets a lot of noise, but Christian is great. He showed it against Paraguay. His ability when he can stand on the ball is great. It helps the team. I’m very proud of him. I hope he’s ready for Friday.”
Other options in Pochettino’s attack include Gio Reyna, who scored the winning goal for the United States against Paraguay and provided dynamic playmaking moments from the flank for the United States.
Sebastian Berhalter replaced Pulisic at half-time in the opening game, with starting midfielder Malik Tillman already having an impressive game in Pulisic’s absence.
“I felt like we were still threatening and creating chances (in the second half),” Robinson said. “We couldn’t move them forward in the game until Gio scored at the end. Like I said, we have a lot of guys ready to step in.”
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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup
