Bad News for Team USA Just Before World Cup Game

US star Christian Pulisic will miss Friday's World Cup match against Australia because of a calf injury, per the AP. United States coach Mauricio Pochettino made the announcement during an interview with Fox about 90 minutes before the kickoff at Lumen Field in Seattle. The game starts at 3pm Eastern. The US defeated Paraguay 4-1 in its opener last week and would clinch advancement to the round of 32 with a win on Friday. However, they still have a good chance of advancing even with a loss.

Pulisic left last week's game at halftime after helping create the opening goal by splitting a pair of defenders before passing to Weston McKennie. He also set up Folarin Balogun for the second goal. Pochettino said the 27-year-old attacker was kicked in the back of his left calf during a training session ahead of the game and felt tightness during the match. Pulisic has 33 goals in 87 international appearances. He will be replaced in the starting lineup by Ricardo Pepi. The Athletic has lots of details on how strategy might shift.