IRVINE, Calif. – At United States men’s national team training on Monday, the message regarding any concern for star Christian Pulisic’s calf injury was “relax.”
“C’mon, Christian will be ready, everyone,” midfielder Tyler Adams said before training on Monday. “Let’s relax.”
Pulisic was subbed off at halftime in the World Cup opener last Friday, which he said was a precautionary move, but the Hershey, Pennsylvania native has yet to practice in full since the United States’ 4-1 win over Paraguay.
"I've had similar things before, and I'm staying positive," Pulisic said after the opener. "I don't think it's anything."
Head coach Mauricio Pochettino even said Pulisic was “good” on Monday, as the 27-year-old forward went through a “modified training session” with individual work away from the main group. This consisted of a gym workout and on-field lunges and hops during the media’s 30-minute view.
However, two days later at Great Park and roughly 48 hours ahead of Friday’s kickoff for the USMNT’s second group stage game against Australia in Seattle, Pulisic was still labelled day to day and continued on his modified program.
This again began in the gym before he walked onto the field with a compression sleeve on his left calf to begin a light passing exercise as media left the field for the end its 15-minute viewing period on Wednesday.
The latter was a small improvement for Pulisic, who had not been seen doing any actual soccer work prior to today. (Although, again, media is limited to watching the start of training sessions only, and it’s normally not very insightful aside from keep-away passing drills.)
With the crucial clash with the Socceroos for the top of Group D looming ever closer, the question changes from how effective Pulisic will be on Friday to will Pulisic be available in Seattle at all? And if Pulisic can’t play, who will Pochettino pick in his place?
"He's not been training fully with the group yet, but we still got a couple of days to see where he's at,” midfielder Antonee “Jedi” Robinson said. “Thankfully we've got a lot of boys on the bench who are eager.”
Against Paraguay, it was Sebastian Berhalter that came in for Pulisic at halftime, but Berhalter is more midfielder than the dynamic forward Pulisic is. There’s no direct replacement for Pulisic, so any change will result in an adjustment in play.
“Whatever role I need to play is the role I’m willing to play,” Berhalter said on Tuesday. “Whether its not starting, starting, coming in at halftime, I’ll be ready to play.”
When Pulisic went down with an injury early in last October’s friendly against Australia, Tim Weah slotted over to that left side wing where Pulisic started against Paraguay. Weah came on in the 72nd minute last Friday.
Weah plays more of a traditional wing role, though, as he stays outside to take advantage of space rather than challenging defenders like Pulisic.
“I’m someone that’s able to start,” Weah said on Tuesday. “I’m someone that’s able to come off the bench and support my team. For me, when I think about being a professional and a football player, it’s being unselfish and being able to support your team just like they support you when you need them.”
Gio Reyna, of course, showed off his high skill with his curling outside-boot strike late against Paraguay. Playing from the midfield, Reyna has the ability to execute almost anywhere on the field, but again, not the same up-front dynamism.
Is Pulisic cleared, does he tough it out against the Socceroos or is he held out for the long term prospects of the tournament? The American public and Australia will find out together at kickoff in Seattle.