USMNT star Christian Pulisic returns to training amid calf injury before Türkiye World Cup match

The USMNT is off to a blazing hot start in this FIFA World Cup, but the first two games have not come without some adversity. In Team USA’s World Cup opener against Paraguay, star forward Christian Pulisic suffered a calf injury that has been lingering over the last few weeks.

Pulisic practiced some during the week following the 4-1 win over Paraguay, but he still was unable to play in the United States’ second group game against Australia on Friday. Team USA still outclassed the Australians in a comfortable 2-0 win even without Pulisic, but they know they will need him back and healthy in order to make a run through the rest of the tournament.

However, the USMNT got some good news on Pulisic’s status on Monday. The AC Milan star returned to full training for the first time since the injury, which seemingly sets up nicely for him to return to action for the group stage finale against Türkiye on Thursday, per ESPN.

It remains unclear how much Pulisic will play, or if he will play at all, on Thursday given the stakes. Team USA has already clinched a spot in the knockout stage and will finish at the top of Group D even with a loss to Türkiye, who has been eliminated with a pair of losses in its first two games. It wouldn’t hurt to get Pulisic some run, but don’t expect to see him for 90 minutes given the situation in the standings.

Midfielder Christian Roldan is still being hampered by a muscle strain and is day-to-day, leaving his status for Thursday’s game up in the air.

Pulisic has plenty of time to get back into playing shape after this minor setback before the USMNT gets its knockout stage run underway on July 1. Their opponent for that game is still up in the air, but teams like Ecuador, Sweden and Bosnia and Herzegovina are among the potential teams that could take that spot. With Pulisic back in the lineup and feeling good, Team USA will feel like it can compete with anyone after its hot start.

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