SAN JOSE, Calif. — United States men’s national team attacker Christian Pulisic said he is ready to go the distance in the team’s World Cup round-of-32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday, no matter how long the game lasts.
Pulisic appears to have recovered fully from the left calf injury that plagued him earlier in the tournament.
The ailment caused him to miss the team’s second group stage match against Australia and limited him to a 32-minute stint against Türkiye.
“I felt great in the game, the last game against Türkiye,” Pulisic told reporters prior to Tuesday’s training session. “So feeling good this week and yeah, I’m definitely ready to go for [Wednesday].”
Defender Auston Trusty was back on the training field for Tuesday’s session after dealing with an ankle injury, while midfielder Cristian Roldan was limited to modified training.
Roldan is officially listed as day-to-day, though it seems unlikely that he will recover in time to play a part in the match. Defender Mark McKenzie was also absent from training as he is battling irritation in his foot.
With two of Monday’s round-of-32 matches going to a penalty shootout, the tiebreaker was a topic of discussion. Pulisic admitted the decision to take a penalty comes with a great deal of pressure.
“It’s an extremely hard thing to do for sure … so the people that go up and shoot takes a lot of courage and it’s not easy,” Pulisic said. “Goalkeepers get better and better every single year. Yeah, I think everyone has their individual style and you just go with what you feel most confident.”
Not every player wants to take a penalty in a shootout, but Pulisic said that finding players to step up won’t be a problem for the USMNT.
“The guys who feel the most confident to go up and shoot will want to go shoot. I think that’s normal,” he said. “There’ll be some players that maybe don’t want to as much and don’t feel as good. I don’t think it’s necessarily a big problem.
“Yeah, I’m not sure. I mean, we haven’t been in many shootouts with these guys, but I feel it’s a pretty brave courageous team. I feel like guys will give it a go.”
Pulisic added that with 13 of the players on the current roster having also been on the squad at the 2022 World Cup, the team’s level of experience should provide a boost to the USMNT.
“We’re ready for this moment,” Pulisic said.
“I think we’ve had some good performances this World Cup, and having that experience last time definitely can allow us to go into this just a little bit of a clear mind, and just more prepared for sure.”
