By Rory Carroll
June 19 (Reuters) – The United States showed they could win without Christian Pulisic on Friday, beating Australia 2-0 to reach the World Cup round of 32, but coach Mauricio Pochettino is hoping his talisman will return for their next match.
Pulisic missed the Group D clash in Seattle with a calf injury sustained in the Americans’ opening win over Paraguay, leaving the co-hosts without their most influential attacking player.
The U.S. still found a way through, taking the lead in the 11th minute through a Cameron Burgess own goal before Alex Freeman headed in shortly before halftime after a VAR review overturned an initial offside decision.
“It’s always difficult because we want to have all the players,” Pochettino said. “Christian is an important player for us, but… it was impossible today for him to play. We hope that next game he will be available.”
The U.S. moved to six points and secured their place in the knockout rounds with one group-stage match still to play.
Pochettino said Pulisic remained central to his plans but added that any successful World Cup run would require contributions from the entire squad.
“If we want to win the competition, we need the whole team,” he said. “All the players need to be important.
“Of course, Christian is one of the best players in the world. I hope that he can recover as soon as possible and can enjoy being on the pitch and helping the team.”
Weston McKennie praised the U.S. team’s depth and said the squad showed on Friday that they could do it all.
“We can play the physical game because we have guys on the field who are ready to step up for that, and we have guys with quality who can play possession-based football,” he said.
The U.S. close out Group D against Turkey on Thursday at Los Angeles Stadium.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll and Phil O’Connor, editing by Ed Osmond)
