Christian Puliisc joined the team for practice for the first time since he suffered a calf injury.
U.S. soccer players said they have bonded and are having fun while working hard to prepare for their next World Cup match.
U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino faces complicated lineup decisions since the team has already won its group.
Two games, two wins and the U.S. is already through to the knockout stage of a World Cup it is hosting.
For forward Folarin Balogun, things couldn’t be going any better.
“You know, if someone said before the tournament, two games and you’d be through to the knockouts, I think we all would have taken it,” he said. “We’re delighted.”
On Monday, the U.S. got more good news when Christian Pulisic, its talisman, returned to training after missing 10 days because of a calf injury. So Balogun said the last thing the team wants to do is take its foot off the gas for Thursday’s group-play finale with Turkey.
.webp)
The object and the aim is to go out there and win,” he said before Monday’s practice at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine. “Three wins, three games. We can create history.”
He is unlikely to be part of that effort, however. Balogun, Tyler Adams, Chris Richards and Antonee Robinson all picked up yellow cards in the first two U.S. games, and a second booking against Turkey would leave them ineligible to play in the round of 32 match.
There’s no need to risk that in a game that will change neither team’s World Cup fate — the U.S. already won the group while Turkey has been eliminated and will fly home after the match. But protecting their momentum is important for the Americans, who last won their group in 1930 and have won a World Cup knockout-stage game just once.
“Game to game, even minute to minute, half to half, it ebbs and flows,” captain Tim Ream said of momentum. “You can wrestle momentum away from teams and create your own. Every goal, every block, every set play — everything that we’re doing is together. That’s how we create the momentum.”
.webp)
Momentum is everything,” defender Richards added. “Going into the last game with the group stage with two wins, hopefully we can finish with the third.”
With decisive victories over Paraguay and Australia, the U.S. has consecutive wins in a World Cup for the first time in 96 years. It has never won more than twice in a tournament, so beating Turkey would make history — and a bold statement.
“The belief’s always been there,” forward Alejandro Zendejas said. “Not just now, but in the past FIFA windows. We’ve been playing against good national teams, respected national teams, and we’ve been coming out with a positive result. So just keep on believing in this group.”
Zendejas said one reason the team is playing so well is because the players genuinely like being around one another. And unlike other national team camps, which rarely last more than 10 days, these 26 players have been together nearly a month, which has helped bond a roster that was already tight.