CHICAGO — United States coach Mauricio Pochettino expressed his frustration after revealing that first-choice center back Chris Richards would miss the team’s final friendly before the World Cup with an ankle injury.
Richards injured ligaments in his ankle in a match for Crystal Palace against Brentford on May 17. At the time, Palace manager Oliver Glasner expressed hope that he could play in the Conference League final on May 27, but Richards was an unused substitute.
However, Richards was held out of the United States’ first warm-up game, a win over Senegal on Sunday, and will now also miss Saturday’s clash with Germany in Chicago.
It is now a doubt whether he will be fit when the U.S. opens its World Cup against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on June 12. And Pochettino appeared unhappy with the word received from Crystal Palace regarding the severity of Richards’ injury.
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“When we decided on our final list [roster], we thought that Chris would be able to play in the final of Conference League because we had done the list before that and we had some information that we thought he would be able to play,” Pochettino told reporters at a news conference Friday.
“After that, we thought he would able to pay versus Senegal. And then today, the information we got was that his injury would take even more time. And I got a little annoyed and I am not happy because Chris Richards is an important player, and we all know that.”
Regarding Richards’ selection to the 26-man World Cup roster despite his injury uncertainty, Pochettino said, “Maybe the information that we had was not the information that we should have used to make our best decision. In the end we are faced with a player for whom we are getting to our second game and he is not available.”
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He added: “Ultimately, we can hope that Chris will be ready but at the end we have to make a decision as to whether he is in shape or not.”
Richards has developed into a standout and a leader in a position that is one of the thinner areas of the USMNT player pool. Palace averaged 1.46 points per game in all competitions when he did play this season and only 1.20 when he didn’t.
His absence on Saturday will assure that, in the entire cycle since the last World Cup, U.S. stars Richards, Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Folarin Balogun, Antonee Robinson and Sergiño Dest will have played in the same match just once — in a 2-0 Concacaf Nations League win over Mexico in March 2024.
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The sendoff match on Saturday comes against a particularly big-name opponent in Germany, a team the U.S. last played in East Hartford, Connecticut, in October 2023. Pulisic gave the Americans a first-half lead, but Ilkay Gündogan, Niklas Füllkrug and Jamal Musiala all scored to give the visitors a comfortable 3-1 victory. The match featured a number of starters who have since been called up for the U.S. World Cup team.
“I think that game showed obviously the quality that they have,” McKennie said of the Germans, “but the quality that we have as well. We played a good game. We had potential to win that game.”
McKennie said that the mood in the U.S. camp is good and that Richards seemed to be making progress.
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“We’re all excited,” he said. “It’s a big opportunity for a lot of us, and Chris Richards is on the right path to coming back and being completely with the squad. I think everyone trusts his body and what he feels in the coaching staff as well.
“He’s an important piece of the group. His energy, his leadership on and off the field. And so obviously we’re just all behind him and can’t wait to have him back and now with the group.”
Richards did practice with the team on Friday and was going through all drills during the portion of practice in which media have access.
