Christian Pulisic, the figure of the United States national team, the young Ricardo Pepi and three other internationals will not travel to Guadalajara for Tuesday’s friendly against Mexico, the US federation reported this Sunday.
These footballers were released as a preventive measure by Argentine Mauricio Pochettino, who made his debut as United States coach on Saturday with a 2-0 victory against Panama.
Pulisic, AC Milan striker, was the most outstanding player in that match played in Austin (Texas) and assisted Yunus Musah’s first goal.
Mexican-American forward Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven), scorer of the second goal, will also not play in Tuesday’s duel in the country where his parents were born.
The other players who left the expedition are Weston McKennie (Juventus), who did not take the field against Panama, Zack Steffen (Colorado Rapids) and Marlon Fossey (Standard de Liege).
According to the federation, Pulisic’s departure is due to the load of playing minutes that has accumulated in the last month while the rest of the players suffer various physical discomforts and will return to their teams to receive treatments.
As we have said, we will always make decisions that are in the best interest of our players and respect the relationship we have with their clubs,” said Pochettino, who chose not to call any substitute for these players.
