Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The U.S. men's national team faces a crucial knockout stage match against Bosnia & Herzegovina in the San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday.
- Their talisman, Christian Pulisic, missed the last group-stage match due to injury but has been training and is eager to return to the starting lineup.
- The coach is expected to revert to his first-choice team, giving key players a chance to freshen up after a period of rest.
Excitement is growing around the United States men's national team, so can they carry that momentum into the knockout stages? The Stars and Stripes' thumping 4-1 victory over Paraguay was, in the eyes of many, USA's best-ever World Cup performance, following it up by swatting aside Australia 2-0 in Seattle. Thus, having already topped the group, Mauricio Pochettino heavily rotated for last Thursday's clash with Türkiye in LA, a match his team narrowly lost 3-2 right at the death.
To make the United States' results, particularly the win over the Socceroos, even more remarkable is that they were achieved without their talisman, but will he be fit to start against Bosnia & Herzegovina in the San Francisco Bay Area?
Is Christian Pulisic playing vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina?
Christian Pulisic's World Cup campaign has been severely disrupted by injury thus far. The winger was absolutely scintillating during the first half of the demolition of Paraguay, a key reason why his team were able to race into a 3-0 lead, assisting Folarin Balogun's first goal. However, he was then replaced by Sebastian Berhalter at half time due to a left calf injury.
Thus, the AC Milan star spent the next week training away from the rest of the group, thereby not featuring against Australia in Seattle, both of which were certainly concerns for U.S. fans. Nevertheless, against Türkiye at SoFi last Thursday, he came off the bench to a huge ovation, getting just over half an hour into his legs, which is a very positive sign.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Pulisic essentially confirmed that he will start against Bosnia & Herzegovina in the San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday, a massive boost.
"I felt great in the last game against Turkey. I’m feeling good this week, and I’m definitely ready to go for tomorrow."Christian Pulisic
Mauricio Pochettino's first-choice team to return
Pulisic though is not the only high-profile U.S. player raring to go. As already mentioned, Pochettino made nine changes for Thursday's dead-rubber against Türkiye, with only Weston McKennie and Ricardo Pepi, who'd come in for Pulisic anyway, remaining in the starting lineup. Thus, expect him to make ten changes in Santa Clara, thereby reverting back to the team that beat Paraguay.
This mass-rotation most crucially prevented any of Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Tyler Adams or Folarin Balogun from picking up a second yellow card which would've seen them miss this tie suspended. Yellow cards are whipped after the group phase, which is ideal because, alongside Pulisic, those are USA's five most important players. Thus, the vast majority of these players have not been in action for 12 days, so will be fresh, looking to blow Bosnia away early doors.
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