“What I felt best for my body,” is how Christian Pulisic explained his decision to step back from this summer’s 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Having endured enough toll on the domestic front, while also making subsequent efforts for the USMNT, Mr. Captain America thought what was best for his interests. The result? His teammates just lost the final against Mexico, leaving Mauricio Pochettino with no choice but to fire a candid message on Pulisic’s absence.
El Tri again proved themselves the better opponents against the Stars and Stripes, as they made an emphatic comeback to secure a 1-2 win as well as the Gold Cup. Of course, it’s no use blaming Pulisic’s absence over this unfortunate result, who rather took a call to step aside just for the sake of his own physical and mental health. Simply put, little did he have a say in deciding whether he’d be part of this camp or not.
However, Pochettino seems to be singing a completely different melody, as he isn’t bothering himself about what it could have been for his team in Pulisic’s presence. Speaking in the aftermath of the defeat, he said, “The roster that we have is the roster who deserved to be here. Now is not the time to talk about the players who are here or not here. We are talking about the competition, the performance, that we lost the final,” as compiled by journalist Kyle Bonn on X.
Pochettino after defeat to Mexico in Gold Cup final: “The roster that we have is the roster who deserved to be here. Now is not the time to talk about the players who are here or not here. We are talking about the competition, the performance, that we lost the final.” #USMNT
— Kyle Bonn (@the_bonnfire) July 7, 2025
(This is a developing story…)
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