Christian Pulisic will not be included in the U.S. men’s national team squad for this summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup, multiple sources confirmed to The Athletic on Wednesday.
The AC Milan winger, the biggest star on the U.S. team, is set to be kept off the 26-man roster that is due to be announced by head coach Mauricio Pochettino on Thursday. FOX Sports was first to report Pulisic’s absence.
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Pulisic’s Milan teammate, midfielder Yunus Musah, will also be left out of the tournament, which begins on June 14, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the squad makeup.
Pochettino now faces the daunting task of being without the core of his preferred starting group for what will be the U.S.’s last tournament ahead of next summer’s World Cup on home soil.
The Juventus duo of Weston McKennie and Tim Weah, plus Borussia Dortmund’s Gio Reyna, will be missing due to their involvement in the FIFA Club World Cup, which also takes place on American soil in the same window as the Gold Cup. FIFA gave player priority to participating clubs over national teams as a special exemption this summer.
That trio, plus Pulisic and Musah, are arguably the highest-profile and most credentialed players in the talent pool. Coming off a disastrous showing in March’s Concacaf Nations League finals, with a fourth-place finish following defeats to Panama and Canada, this latest development is a significant blow for the U.S. coach and a team in desperate need of positive momentum.
Pulisic has struggled with a series of minor injuries during the current Serie A campaign, but is still on course to log the highest minutes tally of his career, provided he features heavily for Milan in its final league game, against Monza, on Saturday.
Pochettino is expected to give his thoughts on the matter when he speaks to reporters on Thursday, following a squad announcement that precedes pre-Gold Cup friendlies against Turkey (June 7) and Switzerland (June 10). Pulisic and Musah were both part of a preliminary 60-man group, which needed to be submitted on Monday to comply with tournament regulations. The final 26-man teams are due to be finalized on June 4.
Last month, Pochettino spoke about the role the Gold Cup holds in his planning.
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“The Gold Cup is historically always a difficult competition, and we are excited to be involved and of course we want to win,” he said. “It’s a good opportunity for us to test different players and see their character and continue to build and prepare the team for the World Cup.”
The USMNT is in a group with Trinidad and Tobago, guest nation Saudi Arabia, and Haiti. It begins its Group D campaign on June 15 against T&T at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif.
(Top photo: Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
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