Chris Richards will not travel with the U.S. men’s national team to Charlotte and is not 100% guaranteed to be with them at the FIFA World Cup.
Richards has been ruled out of the USMNT’s friendly vs. Senegal on Sunday as he continues his rehabilitation on his ankle, head coach Mauricio Pochettino confirmed. The American defender will remain at the National Training Center in Fayetteville, Georgia as he aims to be available for the USMNT’s final pre-World Cup friendly vs. Germany on June 6.
“I think he needs to keep doing his rehab and I think it’s much better to stay here and plan to train and reevaluate next week [to see] how he is,” Pochettino said Saturday in his prematch press conference.
Richards arrived at camp on Friday after traveling in from Leipzig, Germany following Crystal Palace’s 1-0 UEFA Conference League Final victory over Rayo Vallecano. The 26-year-old dressed but not feature in the match, celebrating with his teammates after Oliver Glasner’s men lifted their third trophy in a 12-month span.
Richards originally suffered his ankle injury back on May 17 in the Eagles’ 2-2 Premier League draw with Brentford and was forced to miss their league finale against Arsenal seven days later. While it is a positive sign that Richards is in camp and working to get fit, Pochettino has not guaranteed yet that Richards will be available for the start of World Cup play on June 12 against Paraguay.
“We need to see,” Pochettino said about Richards’ status for the USMNT’s group stage opener. “The next few days are going to be key to see the possibility to be ready or not on the World Cup.”
Should Richards miss the Germany friendly, Pochettino may be forced to seek an injury replacement prior to the World Cup beginning. Tim Ream, Mark McKenzie, Miles Robinson, and Auston Trusty are the other center backs on the final roster, with Ream recently being named captain of the squad.
Larry Henry Jr
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