Christian Pulisic is set to make his return to the U.S. men’s national team on Saturday against South Korea, and his head coach, Mauricio Pochettino, insisted that the row between the two had been resolved.
“For me, it’s in the past,” said the Argentine manager about his relationship with the American superstar, who skipped the Concacaf Gold Cup in favor of rest after the European season with AC Milan.
“This type of thing happens; we all make mistakes sometimes because we all read situations in a different way.”
While the USMNT advanced to the final of the Gold Cup and saw shining performances from several depth players, Pulisic’s conflict with Pochettino dominated the summer headlines.
The head coach also stated that he did not engage in talks with Pulisic before calling him up for the September friendlies against South Korea and Japan.
“It’s in the past, and we can see now with different players, Christian is happy to be here, of course, he is an important player for us, and I think it’s about building for the World Cup, and I think the mood is good. All is behind us,” Pochettino said Friday, having previously stated that he was “not a mannequin,” when Pulisic asked to participate in pre-Gold Cup friendlies but not the tournament.
“The most important thing in this situation is that we all want to move on and do the right things; it’s about being intelligent.”
Pulisic, however, has not addressed the media ahead of the friendlies in the September window, but has engaged with fans at a training session and had a photo opportunity with former USMNT midfielder and now New York Red Bulls II head coach, Michael Bradley.
