CHICAGO – U.S. men’s national team defender Chris Richards will miss the group’s final pre-World Cup friendly against Germany on Saturday as he recovers from an ankle injury, though he did train with the group.
Richards sustained an ankle injury on May 17 while playing for his club team, Crystal Palace, and his status for the start of this summer’s World Cup has been unclear ever since. He had yet to train with his U.S. teammates until Friday’s session in Chicago, though had done individual work for the last several days.
“Today, he’s training and his evolution is well, but he still is not ready to compete and to play,” USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “I think we have, after that game, the possibility in the next few days to assess him and see his ankle, how it’s [evolving] and then to make a decision. I think yes, at the moment, he’s still doing his recovery. Not available.”
How to watch USMNT vs. Germany, odds
- Date: Saturday, June 6 | Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Soldier Field — Chicago
- TV: TNT | Live stream: HBO Max
- Odds: USMNT +420; Draw +330; Senegal -190
Richards was spotted working with the ball – and his teammates – for the first time since reporting to work a week ago at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Fayetteville, Ga., where the 17-day pre-World Cup camp began. On Wednesday, he was spotted working with a resistance band and two members of team staff while his teammates trained as normal nearby.
The center back is arguably the USMNT’s most important player ahead of a World Cup on home soil, but is now roughly three weeks removed from his last game. He missed Palace’s Premier League finale on May 24 against Arsenal and was an unused substitute for their UEFA Conference League final win on May 27. He reported two days late to the USMNT’s camp in the Atlanta suburbs because of his involvement in the Conference League final, which was in Leipzig, Germany. He then was unable to play in the USMNT’s 3-2 win over Senegal on Sunday, staying in Georgia while the team traveled to and from Charlotte, N.C, for the game.
Pochettino has been unable to issue a timeline for Richards’ return to the pitch in large part because he said he and his staff at the USMNT have been playing catch-up as they learn more about the player’s fitness levels.
“When we decided the squad list, we thought Chris might play in the Conference League final,” Pochettino said. “We designed the roster based on information suggesting he could play that match against Rayo Vallecano; he was even on the bench for it. Later, we thought he might be available against Senegal but the timelines kept dragging it out. It’s frustrating, I’m not happy about it because we know Chris is a key player. Everyone knows that but regarding the information we are working with … often there’s a lack of clarity.
“We kept hoping Chris would be ready … but we end up with a player who hasn’t been competing and then we have to decide if he’s fit enough to play – and there isn’t much time during the World Cup. That’s why I mentioned our initial expectation that he would play in that final. It was a matter of missing information – of the fact that he didn’t play, meaning we didn’t have the right data to make the best decisions. We ended up with a player who wasn’t available even by the second [friendly], so you might ask: Is it right for him to be on the 26 team roster if he isn’t playing? Something similar happened with other players. It is a very valid question.”
Pochettino has previously complained about miscommunication from players’ clubs teams, or a lack of information from them at all, which has previously impacted his ability to work with several core members of the team. He addressed the topic in March ahead of the U.S. team’s 5-2 defeat to Belgium, which Richards did not play while dealing with a different injury.
“Chris, difficult situation to assess and explain because he played Thursday in Europe with Palace,” Pochettino said at the time, “and then the club gave permission to come to America. He reported, on Monday, some problem in his knee. After we were assessing him, he was training in some part of the training Tuesday, but he [could] not finish Wednesday and he now feels something in his knee. We hope that it’s nothing important, but for tomorrow, he’s out.”
Richards’ appearance on the pitch with his teammates on Friday acts as a signal that he is trending in the right direction but Pochettino has yet to confirm if the player will be available for their World Cup opener in a week’s time against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium.
USMNT World Cup schedule
- June 12: USMNT vs. Paraguay, 9 p.m. ET at SoFi Stadium
- June 19: USMNT vs. Australia, 3 p.m. ET at Lumen Field
- June 26: Turkiye vs. USMNT, 10 p.m. ET at SoFi Stadium
