By Rory Carroll
IRVINE, California, June 17 (Reuters) – United States players said they hope Christian Pulisic will be available for their Group D World Cup clash against Australia on Friday after the forward was substituted at halftime in their opener with a left calf injury.
Team officials told reporters at U.S. base camp on Wednesday that Pulisic was still being evaluated daily and remains in a “modified training program,” doing individual work both in the gym and on the field.
“We’re really hoping Christian is going to be back for the game of course,” Brenden Aaronson, who could potentially start in Pulisic’s place, told reporters.
“I don’t really know what is going on in particular, but we know that he is going to give us his all to get back into the team and be there for the game.”
PULISIC SENSATIONAL AGAINST PARAGUAY
Pulisic was sensational in the first half in the co-hosts’ 4-1 thrashing of Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium on Friday, beating two defenders to force an own goal and setting up Folarin Balogun to score before being subbed off at the break.
“He has not been training fully with the group yet, but we’ve got a couple of days to see where he’s at,” Antonee Robinson said.
“Thankfully we’ve got a lot of boys on the bench who are eager and ready to get involved in helping the team and a lot of quality,” he said.
“It’s a long tournament. If we don’t have him back for the game, we’re going to make sure we have him back for the rest of the way because we’re going to need him.”
TIGHT-KNIT GROUP
The squad appeared relaxed and upbeat on Wednesday at Great Park Sports Complex, going through passing drills as coastal fog gave way to bright Southern California sunshine.
“It’s a great group of guys, and the togetherness is really, really close,” Aaronson said.
“Everybody jokes around, everybody has fun with each other. Sometimes I would say we’re too much joking around and too goofy, but we have the ability to flip that switch and go into full serious mode like we did against Paraguay.
“Now we have two other games coming up where we have to be at our best, and hopefully further on.”
Despite some high-profile American pundits predicting that Australia would be the weakest side in the group, the Socceroos stunned Turkey 2-0 in their opener and will come into the match with a lot of confidence.
“We know that they are going to be very, very tough to play against,” Aaronson said.
“They had a very good first game so we’ve got to be ready to go. After our first game, we’re going to have some confidence, but we can’t get too high or too low.”
(Reporting by Rory CarrollEditing by Toby Davis)
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