Christian Pulisic missed the last two matches for Chelsea, due to his having tested positive for covid-19, but he has now fully recovered. The 22-year-old contracted the virus despite being fully vaccinated, but fortunately for everyone involved, Pulisic was asymptomatic the entire time.
Pulisic was named to the USMNT roster for the upcoming international break, and Blues boss Thomas Tuchel said that he hopes his star player will get some minutes for the Stars and Stripes in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
“Pulisic is released today and will go to the national team if he can provide a negative test,” Tuchel said after Chelsea battled Liverpool to a 1-1 draw in the Premier League’s biggest match of the weekend.
“We hope he can play some minutes.”
The USA will have three matches in eight days coming up. It starts with a tussle against El Salvador in their opponents’ home country on Sept. 2. Then the red, white and blue come home for a border war with Canada on Sept. 5. And away match at Honduras on Sept. 8 completes the trifecta.
For Pulisic, who has been wearing the captain’s armband for the United States lately, the main question is how sharp will he be? Having to miss out on two weeks of action, and training, due to his mandatory isolation will likely have adverse effects on his fitness level.
Of course, it shouldn’t be too dramatic, and he’ll almost certainly be back at his top tier level of individual fitness and form quickly.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.