U.S. men’s national team manager Mauricio Pochettino struck an optimistic tone when the topic of Christian Pulisic’s fitness was raised this week.
The royally in-form forward was named as a substitute for the USMNT’s 1–1 draw with Ecuador on Friday night after struggling with an ankle issue. Pulisic was fit enough to feature for the final 17 minutes of a performance which was universally lauded despite the disappointing nature of the result.
Speaking the day before his side take on Australia in a marquee friendly on Tuesday night, Pochettino was positive about Pulisic’s condition. “I think the reaction after the 20 minutes playing [against Ecuador], I think was good,” the Argentine boss noted.
“His ankle I think reacted very well and just hope that tomorrow he can be available. We need to wait today for the reaction too, but I think it’s much better than when we he arrived.”
Fulham left back Antonee Robinson—whose return to the roster was one of the big positives from Pochettino’s squad announcement—has been carrying a knee problem throughout the international break. “Antonee is, from the beginning of the camp, he’s with some small issue in his knee, a little bit of pain,” the 53-year-old lamented.
“We are managing him in the best way, but he still cannot be involved in training and for sure tomorrow cannot be involved in the game. I hope that it’s not an important thing, but [can] come back to his club and can be in a normal way there training.”
