Christian Pulisic defended choice to skip the Gold Cup with the USMNT
The U.S. men's national team is coming off its fourth straight loss under new head coach Mauricio Pochettino. And while the USMNT was thoroughly embarrassed in its friendly against Switzerland, much of the discussion focused on the player who wasn't there:
Christian Pulisic.
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Ever since the AC Milan star elected to skip the Gold Cup — the USMNT's only competitive tournament before the 2026 World Cup — the backlash had been impossible to ignore. The criticism came from former USMNT players, fans and even subtle jabs from Pochettino.
Come Thursday, Pulisic had heard enough and looked to offer his side of the decision.
In an interview with CBS Sports, Pulisic said that he had wanted to at least be a part of the pre-Gold Cup friendlies and training camp, but Pochettino preferred to keep the same roster across the friendlies and Gold Cup.
Pulisic respected that decision even if he admittedly didn't understand the reasoning behind it. Sergiño Dest and Folarin Balogun were allowed to participate in camp before withdrawing ahead of the friendlies, for example.
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Pulisic said:
"Obviously it sucks for me to miss out with the team. I want to be a part of the team always. But to be honest, towards the second half and towards the end of the season, my body just started talking to me and my mind. I just started to think what is going to be best for me leading into next year and going into the World Cup? And was that to play eight more games, get no rest at all and go straight into preseason and then grind another year and go straight into a World Cup? That's not what I felt was best for my body.
"But the only point I would make with that is that I did want to be a part of at least the two friendlies. I did speak with the coaches. I asked, and I wanted to be a part of the team in whatever capacity I could. They said no. They said they only wanted one roster. That's coach's decision. I fully respect that. I didn't understand it, but it is what it is. I wanted to be a part of that."
Pulisic added that even amid the backlash, he wouldn't change his decision. He felt that he needed the time away to recover and is set to begin training this week.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Christian Pulisic defended choice to skip the Gold Cup with the USMNT
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