Christian Pulisic injury: US star ‘close to 100 percent’ ahead of knockout round

The United States clinched Group D with a victory over Austrlia without standout midfielder Christian Pulisic, who missed the match due to a calf injury.

But the star told FOX Sports on Wednesday that he was “close to 100 percent” ahead of Thursday’s final group match, against Türkiye, and that he is “ready” to go.

“I’m feeling great. The team’s feeling great, I’ve been able to join the team in the last few days, I’m feeling healthy and yeah, I’m ready to go for this game,” said Pulisic to Jenny Taft.

Asked if he was “100 percent in training,” by Taft, Pulisic agreed.

“Yeah, I would say so,” started Pulisic. “Definitely yesterday I felt very close and, I would say 100 percent.”

You can see the entire exchange here:

The USMNT is guaranteed a spot in the Round of 32, and will face a third-place team in their first match of knockout play, thanks to winning Group D. So Mauricio Pochettino could decide to give Pulisic additional rest ahead of that first match, scheduled for July 1. But if Pulisic is indeed 100 percent, he could also decide to give Pulisic some minutes to get him up to match speed ahead of the knockout round.

We will see if Pulisic is indeed in the plan for Pochettino on Thursday, but he sounds ready to go.