Soccer Football – Premier League – Chelsea v Crystal Palace – Stamford Bridge, London, Britain – November 9, 2019 Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic celebrates scoring their second goal Action Images via Reuters/Tony O’Brien
(Reuters) – Forward Christian Pulisic has been ruled out of the United States’ upcoming CONCACAF Nations League matches against Canada and Cuba due to a hip injury, U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter has said.
The 21-year-old, who is a key creative player for his country, sustained the injury playing for Chelsea in their 2-0 Premier League victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday.
“Christian is officially at this stage ruled out,” Berhalter told reporters. “This was a collaborative decision with the club looking after the best interest of the player.
“These decisions are always difficult because this group and the coaching staff want nothing more than to have Christian here, but it was a risk we weren’t willing to take at this time.”
Pulisic moved to Chelsea from Germany’s Borussia Dortmund in the close season and took time to settle in England, failing to score in his first nine appearances for the London club in all competitions.
He has rediscovered his touch in recent weeks, however, scoring five goals in his last three Premier League appearances, including one against Palace on Saturday.
The United States are second in their Nations League group, six points behind leaders Canada, who they play on Friday. Berhalter’s team take on Cuba, who occupy the third and final place in the group, four days later.
Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman