INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Christian Pulisic came on as a second-half substitute in the United States' final World Cup group match against Turkey on Thursday night.
The Americans sent out nine new starters for this meaningless game with their knockout-round place already secured, but Pulisic replaced Tim Weah in the 58th minute for his first game action since the first half of their 4-1 victory over Paraguay nearly two weeks ago.
Pulisic said this week
that he is ready to play again after coming out at halftime with a calf injury in the Americans’ home World Cup opener. The AC Milan midfielder entered the 2-2 game to an enormous roar from the sellout crowd at SoFi Stadium, and he created a scoring opportunity just a couple of minutes later with a dynamic run down the left side.
Pulisic nearly scored again in the 63rd minute, but his quick shot off a nice pass from Sebastian Berhalter was knocked off the goalpost by Turkey goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir, and Brenden Aaronson botched his follow-up chance.
The American team has already won its group and clinched a matchup with Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Round of 32 next week, so coach Mauricio Pochettino used this meaningless final match to give playing time to the second string on his 26-man squad.
Auston Trusty scored for the Americans in the third minute, but Turkey took a 2-1 lead into halftime. Berhalter tied it again for the U.S. in the 49th minute.
The Americans kept Pulisic on the bench to begin the match along with the four key U.S. players who have already picked up yellow cards: striker Folarin Balogun, Tyler Adams and top defenders Antonee Robinson and Chris Richards.
Weston McKennie and Ricardo Pepi were the only starters in the lineup against Turkey who also started the Americans’ 2-0 victory over Australia in Seattle last week. McKennie, the U.S. captain against Turkey, was the only player to start all three group matches, while Pepi remained in the lineup after replacing Pulisic against the Socceroos.
Pochettino also swapped out starting goalkeeper Matt Freese for Matt Turner, who was the Americans’ starter for all four matches at the Qatar World Cup four years ago.
The new starters were Turner, Auston Trusty, Gio Reyna, Aaronson, Miles Robinson, Berhalter, Tim Weah, Mark McKenzie and Joe Scally.
Turner, Aaronson, McKenzie and Miles Robinson all got their first playing time at this World Cup.
The U.S. faces Bosnia on Wednesday, July 1, in Santa Clara, California.
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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/FIFA-World-Cup
