Christian Pulisic Returns to Full Training with the US National Team Ahead of World Cup Group Matches

IRVINE, Calif. — Christian Pulisic participated in the U.S. Men's National Team's full 15-minute practice session open to the media on Monday, ahead of their upcoming World Cup group match against Turkey on Thursday. This suggests that the US star is on the way to a full recovery, regardless of whether he will appear in the game at SoFi Stadium or not. The US Soccer Federation declined to provide an official statement on his status, beyond what could be seen on the practice fields at Great Park.

Pulisic, 27, missed the 2-0 win over Australia with a left calf injury. The star winger, who provided the Americans with the first two goals in a 4-1 win over Paraguay, was forced out of the game with a calf strain after being hit by a kick during the match. This problem was exacerbated by an injury that occurred during previous training.

After the match, Pulisic expressed optimism that the injury would not become a bigger problem and that his decision to pull out of the match was a “precautionary measure.” “I hope I will be fine in the next few days,” he said. Over the following week, Pulisic's daily status continued to be a concern. The winger took part in a “modified” training session where he worked in the gym at the training center and individually on the adjacent training pitch. Cameras captured him running through resistance training and doing light ball drills. In the end, he was forced to miss the match against Australia.

“Christian is not available,” coach Pochettino told Fox hours before the win in Seattle. "His progress is very good. Today, he trained in the morning at the camp and I saw that he was feeling good. I hope as soon as possible he can be ready to be selected again and be part of the team. ... It's a little sad because he wanted to stay, he wanted to participate today."

With a win over Australia, the US will face an already eliminated Turkish team in a match that has no implications for the tournament. The United States will play on July 1 in the round of 32 in Santa Clara, California, against the third-place team from the other group. This could be a good opportunity for Pulisic to get playing time and return to form before entering the knockout rounds. Two former US coaches, Gregg Berhalter and Bob Bradley, offered similar advice on FanDuel's Coaches' Corner event. “If he's ready, I would say you want to play him,” Berhalter said. "You don't want to wait too long. And maybe not the whole game, but you want to give him a chance to play based on the health he has." Bradley agrees. “Calf injuries are complicated,” he said. "As they go through all the steps in the return-to-play process, you'll get an indication of where he's at. You definitely don't want to rush things. But when you start thinking about the Paraguay game and the number of days before you get to the round of 32, that's a long time without playing." With Pulisic apparently back on the pitch this week, Pochettino can now evaluate how best to include him and prepare for July 1.