Christian Pulisic Has Honest USMNT Admission After Missing Recent Friendly Matches originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
After receiving some backlash from former USMNT star Landon Donovan, Christian Pulisic has broken his silence.
The team is currently making its final preparations for the Concacaf Gold Cup, but most of the focus is on Pulisic, who isn’t participating this summer. He was left off of the USMNT’s roster for their friendlies this month and also missed out on the squad for this summer’s tournament, a choice Pulisic decided was best for his body and the future of the team.
He played 57 matches for club and country during the 2024-2025 season, believing it would be best if he took some time off to rest up.
Christian Pulisic reveals that he DID want to be with the USMNT for the two friendlies against Türkiye and Switzerland — but said the federation wanted commitment for the entire summer through the Gold Cup. pic.twitter.com/3NTwQFsHPY
— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) June 12, 2025
“Obviously it sucks for me to miss out with the team, I want to be a part of the team always, But, to be honest, towards the second half and towards the end of the season my body just started talking to me,” Pulisic said.
“I started to think what is best and what is going to be best for me next year leading into next year and going into the World Cup. Was that to play eight more games and then get no rest at all, go straight into preseason, grind another year and then go straight into the World Cup? That’s not what I thought was best for my body,” he added.
It was a decision that was made by Pulisic and the USMNT staff with his heavy workload in mind. Although he will be absent from the team, according to Pulisic, he wanted to be involved in some capacity.
“The only point I would make with that is that I did want to be a part of at least the two friendlies,” Pulisic said. I did speak with the coaches and I asked, I did want to be a part of the team in whatever capacity I could and they said no. They only wanted one roster, that’s the coach's decision and I fully respect that. I didn’t understand it, but it is what it is.”
In the end, both sides weren’t seeing eye-to-eye, with Pulisic being left out of the squad entirely.
“I had to make the best decision for myself and also in the long run for my team, even though clearly some people haven’t seen it that way,” he said.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 12, 2025, where it first appeared.
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