INGLEWOOD, Calif. — United States manager Mauricio Pochettino said his four players on yellow cards won’t start Thursday’s match against Türkiye to avoid the possibility of being suspended for the round of 32 match on July 1.
The USMNT has clinched the top spot in Group D, and with Türkiye having already been eliminated, the match will have no bearing on the final group standings. Therefore, the four players on yellow cards — midfielder Tyler Adams, forward Folarin Balogun, defender Chris Richards and outside back Antonee Robinson — will begin the match on the bench and likely won’t play at all.
All yellow cards incurred during the group stage that don’t result in a suspension for the round of 32 will be wiped out when the group stage concludes.
“I think it’s an easy answer for the guys that have yellow cards,” Pochettino said Wednesday at his prematch news conference. “I think it’s unnecessary to take a risk and then take another yellow card and be not available for the next stage.
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“I think that is a little bit a normal and easy answer not to play with them from the beginning.”
Pochettino said he also wanted to avoid a scenario where a player on a yellow card played tentatively in order to avoid a suspension.
“If you play tomorrow and maybe you receive an unfair yellow card and you are out, not available for the next stage, tell me in the way that you will approach the game,” Pochettino said. “My answer is I need to be sure that the team that is going to [play] tomorrow, want to eat the grass here in the SoFi and play as if it’s the final of the World Cup.”
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The U.S. manager also hinted that he could rest a player like Malik Tillman, who is coming off a long club season. Other players like Sergiño Dest and Alex Freeman, who didn’t play as often with their clubs, may get different treatment.
“We have a lot of circumstance that we earn because we earn through our results and our performance; the possibility to manage better and arrive in a better condition in the next stage,” Pochettino said.
The U.S. coach added that Christian Pulisic, who sat out the Australia match with a calf injury, is available, though how he will be used is still to be determined.
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“We need to decide if it’s possible to play from the beginning or be on the bench and have the possibility to maybe to play in the second half,” Pochettino said about Pulisic. “That is the situation.”
The news is less positive about midfielder Cristian Roldan, who was viewed as one of the possible replacements for Adams in the U.S. midfield. Roldan hasn’t trained with the full team since last weekend, and according to Pochettino has been dealing with a quadriceps issue.
“We need to assess tomorrow if [Roldan] can be available,” the U.S. manager said. “He has a small issue in his quad, but I think it’s evolving really well. [If] this is not for tomorrow, hope for the next week.”
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As for Türkiye, Pochettino is anticipating that the Crescent-Stars are going to play with plenty of intensity in order to finish off what has been a disappointing World Cup on a more positive note. Türkiye has lost both of its World Cup games and has no chance of advancing.
“I think it’s a World Cup match. When you defend your shirt, your flag, your culture always is about pride,” Pochettino said. “I have no doubt that the Turkish team is going to be competitive tomorrow. They have good players. Of course they are eliminated, but I think it’s going to be a tough game. We are not thinking that it’s going to be a game that is going to be easy.”
The United States’ opponent in the round of 32 is likely to be Bosnia-Herzegovina, which beat Qatar earlier Wednesday to clinch its first spot in the knockout rounds of a World Cup.
