IRVINE, Calif. — U.S. men’s national team star Christian Pulisic’s injury status is day to day, a team spokesman said on Tuesday. For a second straight day, he was limited to participating in a modified training session ahead of Friday’s World Cup match against Australia.
Pulisic and the team have downplayed the injury after he was kicked in the calf during the 4-1 win against Paraguay, with the margin of victory enabling coach Mauricio Pochettino to sub him off at halftime.
Pochettino’s substitution decision was quite a moment for midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, who made his World Cup debut. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Berhalter was in the stands watching his father, Gregg, coach the national team. On Friday night, it was Gregg who at SoFi Stadium saw his eldest make it onto the pitch as they became the 24th father-son duo in history to play in the World Cup.
The U.S. fired Gregg in 2024 and replaced him with Pochettino, but Friday made for a joyous occasion.
“Just going up in the stands, it was awesome seeing his face,” Sebastian said of Gregg in the postgame scene. “Four years ago, I was waiting for him to come up in the stands. And now, he was waiting for me to come up in the stands. Yeah, that was special.”
Three days before the Paraguay match, a FIFA video featured Sebastian reading aloud a letter Gregg had written to the 25-year-old.
“I remember preparing for a national team camp in 2024, when you asked me if I thought you had a chance to make the roster,” Gregg wrote. “And I had to answer honestly. I told you that if you weren’t consistently starting for your club yet, it would be difficult to make the national team.
“I could see the disappointment in your face, hear the disappointment in your voice, but from that day on I saw something change. I saw you take responsibility for your dream. From that moment forward, I watched you push harder. Work harder. Commit yourself fully to becoming the player you believed you could be. That’s why making the World Cup team means so much to me, because I know how much it means to you.”
Sebastian said he needed to hear his father’s feedback about his national team chances back then. He stopped to shed tears as he read how together in this World Cup they’ll get to share an experience few fathers and sons ever will. More tears came at the mention of how proud Gregg was.
Sebastian would have his breakout season in 2025 when as the Vancouver Whitecaps’ player of the year, the team reached both the CONCACAF Champions Cup final and MLS Cup final. After the Champions Cup run, it was his father’s successor who called him up to the national team for the Gold Cup.
“Day 1 going into the Gold Cup, we had a conversation, and he just said, ‘I saw something in you before playing in Vancouver,’” Sebastian said of Pochettino. “That’s all I can ask for — a coach that believes in you. He’s been amazing with me. Since Day 1, just believed in me and wanted me to get better and pushed me and knowing when to be harder on me.
“He’s someone that I feel like has my best interests. I’m super grateful and thankful for him, honestly.”
And with Pulisic recovering, Sebastian could be asked to step forward again.
“Whatever role I need to play is the role I’m willing to play,” he said. “And if it’s not starting, starting, come in at halftime, whatever it is, I’ll be ready.”
Contact Diamond Leung at dleung@reviewjournal.com. Follow @diamond83 on X.
