Christian Pulisic explains missing USMNT November friendlies after injury: ‘Time now to fully care for myself’

Christian Pulisic said his exclusion from the U.S. men’s national team roster for this month’s friendlies was out of an abundance of caution, admitting the time would be better spent “fully car[ing] for myself” in the early stages of his recovery from a hamstring injury.

The AC Milan attacker sustained the injury during the USMNT’s 2-1 win over Australia in October, only making his return on Saturday in Milan’s 2-2 draw at Parma. Pulisic came off the bench and played 20 minutes but in the build-up to the match, he and his club decided he would stay in Italy during the international break instead of rushing back to fitness by joining the national team.

“Speaking with the people at Milan, but also when I was leaving the national team, we had good conversations,” Pulisic said in an exclusive Paramount+ interview with CBS Sports’ Kate Scott, conducted before his return to play. “I haven’t come back and played yet, so I don’t think it’s right for me to fly over there and try to get my first games back with the national team when I just want to make sure I have the time now to fully care for myself and make sure that my hamstring is doing well and allow other guys to take the place. So I think it’s just the best decision for everyone right now.”

As a result, Pulisic will miss the penultimate international break before the World Cup, arguably making his injury ill-timed. The USMNT star is choosing to have a positive perspective, especially since he did not have a lengthy spell away from the pitch.

“Right when it happens, it’s so frustrating,” he said. “You have all those thoughts, Why now? Things were going so well at the beginning of the season. It seems to happen that way but honestly I trust in God’s timing. I trust in that it’s the best thing for me and to be honest, it’s not like it’s not the worst thing ever. I was out a couple of weeks and now I’m already back, so I’m lucky that it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, so I’m trying to see it from the positive perspective.”

Pulisic also described the wide range of feelings players experience during their time on the sidelines, describing those weekends as “the worst time” for players.

“As a footballer, the times when you’re injured and you can’t play on the weekends, it’s the worst time for us,” Pulisic said. “We work so hard to try to keep our bodies and keep, be available as much as we can and those moments can be really down because you really just want to get back out there, help your team. You have to watch from the sideline. It’s really tough and also you’re in there on the physio bed and you’re watching your team train and it’s just tough. It’s a tough place to be, but I think that feeling is what pushes you to want to get back that much quicker. It was tough, but now I’m back fully with the team and I’m feeling much better.”

Pulisic’s comments echoed those of USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino, who described the player’s exclusion as “common sense” in a press conference earlier this month.

“It’s not common sense to call a player,” Pochettino said. “It’s true, it was a small injury. It’s to provide him the possibility to recover 100%, be full and be ready to play after the international duty with his [club] team. It’s common sense. We never risk players. He played against Australia because he really [felt] really good and because all the assessments from our doctors and medical staff was right and the player agreed with us.”