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Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that Christian Pulisic’s participation in the United States Men’s National Team’s second World Cup fixture will be decided at the last moment, as the forward continues to recover from an injury sustained during the team’s opening victory over Paraguay. The USMNT coach confirmed that Pulisic will be evaluated by the medical staff on Thursday night before a final call is made ahead of Friday’s crucial match in Seattle.

The situation

Pulisic featured only in the first half of the USMNT’s win over Paraguay before being substituted at the interval for Sebastian Berhalter. As Pochettino explained, the AC Milan attacker had already picked up a minor knock during training earlier in the week, which was aggravated during the Paraguay encounter after he took a blow to his calf.

Throughout the week, Pulisic has been following an individual training regime, combining gym sessions with modified solo drills. After the team’s final training session before matchday, Pochettino was asked for an update on Pulisic’s condition, to which he responded that there was still some uncertainty about his availability.

What Pochettino said

“He has been training individually all week,” Pochettino explained. “As always, tonight, the day before the match, we will hold a meeting with our medical staff to assess the entire squad, and tomorrow we will announce the decisions taken.”

“He’s improving. He’s much better than he was last Friday. We’ll have to see. If he isn’t ready for tomorrow, he should be available for the next game. But he’s giving everything, making a huge effort to be ready. For any player who loves representing their country, this is a wonderful chance to contribute to the team’s success and to win matches. When something like this happens, it’s disappointing, but Christian has a strong mindset and great determination. He’s putting in a fantastic effort to return as quickly as possible.”

Pochettino’s options

Should Pulisic be ruled out for Friday’s game, Pochettino has several alternatives at his disposal. He could opt to move either Weston McKennie or Malik Tillman further forward, while Tim Weah, Brenden Aaronson, Gio Reyna, or Alex Zendejas are also viable attacking choices after all came off the bench in the match against Paraguay.

When questioned about these potential replacements, Pochettino chose not to reveal much. “I will tell you tomorrow if that is the situation,” he remarked. “At the moment, we are assessing all the possibilities, just in case, and we’ll confirm our decision later tonight once everything is clear.”

What comes next?

Friday’s encounter with Australia holds significant importance as the U.S. looks to secure the top spot in the group. A victory over the Socceroos would put the Americans in prime position to finish first and ensure momentum heading into the knockout stage.

A defeat or draw, however, would leave qualification hanging in the balance, with the group stage finale against Turkey in Los Angeles likely to determine their fate.