CNN Sports<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n\n Pochettino said he\u2019s been emphasizing to his team that the Turkish side will not be going quietly.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt\u2019s a World Cup match where when you defend your jersey, your flag, your future \u2013 always is about pride,\u201d Pochettino told reporters. \u201cI have no doubt that the Turkish team is going to be competitive tomorrow. They have good players, of course, they are eliminated, but\u2026 we are not thinking that it\u2019s going to be a game that it\u2019s going to be easy, we know the quality.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cI think it\u2019s not my choice to analyze why they were eliminated, but \u2026 in the way that they played the two games, even if they didn\u2019t win, I think they deserve more, in my opinion.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n The USA will get a boost from the possible return of Pulisic to the team after he sat out the second group match against Australia last week. The attacking midfielder suffered a kick in his calf a few days before the opening match against Paraguay and played through the opening 45 minutes of the tournament, not feeling much pain thanks to adrenaline.\n <\/p>\n
\n Pulisic told reporters on Wednesday that the pain from the injury \u2013 a contusion or strain, he said \u2013 came out during halftime and the decision was made, with the US up by three goals at that point, to sit the rest of the game. A race to get fit before the second game was ultimately not done in time, but Pulisic said Wednesday he\u2019s feeling good and hoping to play.\n <\/p>\n
![\"Christian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ap26164071050166.jpg\")
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\n Pochettino confirmed Wednesday evening that Pulisic is fit, but the decision about how much to play him is yet to be made.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe need to decide if it\u2019s possible to play from the beginning or be on the bench, and unfortunately, maybe to play on the second half,\u201d the Argentine said.\n <\/p>\n
\n The USA team that will take the pitch on Thursday night will look markedly different than the ones that have started the first two games. Players like Chris Richards, Tyler Adams, Folarin Balogun and Antonee Robinson have all been shown yellow cards so far in this tournament and receiving another yellow would mean being suspended for the Round of 32 match on July 1.\n <\/p>\n
\n Pochettino said it\u2019s not worth the risk to lose one of those players.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt\u2019s unnecessary to take a risk and then take another yellow card and be not available for the next stage,\u201d he said, \u201cand I think that is a little bit normal and easy answer in the beginning.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n That next stage is looming. Bosnia and Herzegovina\u2019s win over Qatar on Wednesday has set the stage for the Zmajevi, as it stands, to be the US\u2019 opponent next week in Santa Clara at Levi\u2019s Stadium when the knockout rounds commence.\n <\/p>\n
\n The expanded World Cup, combined with the US\u2019 status as a host nation and the dominant performances in the opening two games, has allowed prognosticators to map out a route for the US through the knockout rounds. The United States has won a grand total of one knockout round game in its history at the world\u2019s biggest sporting showcase \u2013 and it\u2019s been 24 years since that happened.\n <\/p>\n
\n The support for the team in Los Angeles and Seattle has been loud and proud \u2013 \u201cday and night\u201d is how Pochettino described the change in fan support from before the tournament \u2013 and there\u2019s a genuine connection between fans and squad.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe connection was the most difficult (thing) to create,\u201d Pochettino said. \u201cAnd now when you connect with the fans and the people, it\u2019s exciting. Our players and the team is so excited to create tomorrow here and feel the connection because that is a unique feeling and emotion that you can \u2013 it\u2019s difficult to get another place that is the adrenaline that you like to feel in your body when that connection happens.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n It\u2019s a hard thing to build. It can be a harder thing to keep.\n <\/p>\n
\n The good vibes around the US men\u2019s soccer team right now are fairly unprecedented. Historical failings are being brushed off, and cultural and structural deficiencies in the international men\u2019s game are being scoffed at. Fans of this team, by and large, are as confident in the US men\u2019s soccer team as they\u2019ve ever been.\n <\/p>\n
\n It\u2019s a balloon that keeps inflating, and a loss against Turkey \u2013 though it won\u2019t affect the USA\u2019s path the rest of the tournament \u2013 could be the needle that pops it and allows those realities to rush back in.\n <\/p>\n
\n McKenzie said there\u2019s been no thought of letting this summer of soccer love hit a speed bump.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had two strong performances so far, but that\u2019s not going to change our mentality, kind of pull us back from doing what we want to do, and that\u2019s winning every game, right?\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to win this whole thing. We came into this tournament with that mentality and not trying to stop short of that goal.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Inglewood, California\u00a0\u2014\u00a0 Two wins in two matches to start this World Cup means the United States doesn\u2019t need…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":725086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-725085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=725085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/725086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=725085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=725085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=725085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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