The United States men’s national team will once again be without Christian Pulisic for their second match of the current international break. The veteran winger, who has earned 90 caps for the USMNT, will not feature in the upcoming friendly against Chile in St. Louis tonight.
Following a commanding 4-1 victory over Peru in their first fall friendly, Mauricio Pochettino’s squad is preparing to host Chile before facing regional rivals Mexico and Canada later in the window. Despite the busy schedule that includes four exhibition matches, Pulisic has been left out of the 28-man roster announced by Pochettino.
Fitness Concerns Keep Pulisic on the Sidelines
The main reason behind Pulisic’s absence relates to his ongoing recovery from a leg injury sustained during the USMNT’s World Cup round-of-16 loss to Belgium in July. Having only recently returned to action for his club, AC Milan, Pulisic did not make his first start of the season until September 20, which impacted his availability for national duty.
Pochettino has opted for a youthful squad, aiming to evaluate emerging talent as the team builds toward future competitions. Although the coach did not explicitly mention Pulisic’s omission when unveiling the squad, he emphasized that the selected players were those he wanted to work with during this period.
“The 28 players that are going to be involved in these four games, for different circumstances, are the players that we want to see and the players that we want to work with, and that’s it,” Pochettino stated during a September 17 press conference, avoiding specific comments on the absence of the USMNT’s “Captain America.”