IRVINE, Calif. — Number 10 is back and ready to play.
Here’s hoping he does.
The final training session before the final World Cup Group D match for the U.S. was several minutes from starting Wednesday when Christian Pulisic was made available to reporters off to the side of the practice pitch.
“I think I already know what the first question is going to be,’’ Pulisic joked. “I feel good. I joined the team [practicing] the last couple days, and yeah, I’m hoping to play a part in tomorrow for sure.’’
Those were the magic words all USMNT fans and followers wanted to hear from their star striker who injured his left calf in the opening match against Paraguay and missed the second game, against Australia.
Hopefully, manager Mauricio Pochettino does the right thing and plays Pulisic — at least for 20-30 minutes against Turkey on Thursday night at SoFi Stadium — so he can get his legs back under him in game conditions for the first time since the injury occurred June 12.
If Pochettino keeps his star striker in Bubble Wrap and does not play him Thursday, it would be a mistake and it would be sending the wrong message to the rest of his team.
Because, to a man Wednesday, the U.S. players talked about the desire to keep the mojo from the first two World Cup matches — a 4-1 win over Paraguay and a 2-0 result against Australia — going as they power on to the first knockout round.
“We’ve got a team full of guys who have a winner’s mentality,’’ defender Mark McKenzie said. “Nobody steps into a tournament wanting to lose any game. We’ve had two strong collective performances in the first two games, and to end the group stage on our note, in our way, I think that’s probably our biggest message.
“It’s the same as we’ve been approaching every game, because the group stage is not done yet,’’ McKenzie added when asked about the approach for a match with no consequence in the group standings. “We want to end it the right way — the way we came into it — and continue to build off the momentum we’ve had.”
As fellow defender Chris Richards said, “It’s still the World Cup. People are talking about us making history. Whatever the case may be … we want to win all three games in our group and go into the next round with nine points.
“If you’re not excited for this, I don’t know when you will be excited.”
If Pulisic is fit enough to play and Pochettino is serious about defeating Turkey to become the first U.S. side to go 3-0 in World Cup group play, then he starts Pulisic.
The belief is that he will, because Pochettino is an aggressive soul who doesn’t leave the bat on his shoulder in the batter’s box.
He’s not one to coach scared. So, he’ll surely adhere to the Herman Edwards mantra and play to win the game.
When asked what his availability will be in terms of minutes, Pulisic deferred.
“I’ll discuss that with my coaches and the medical staff,’’ he said. “Obviously, it’s not a good chance I’ll play 90 [minutes] right away … after coming back and missing a game, but we’ll see.”
Sitting out the Australia match was an odd feeling for Pulisic, but the team’s performance without him reinforced how good he believes this team is.
“It was obviously a different set of emotions for sure, not being able to play,’’ he said. “But I enjoyed just being on the sideline, being around the team. I wanted to be there. I obviously just couldn’t be happier and prouder of how the guys handled that whole situation.
“I had faith in them. I knew they would [win]. It’s a really cool team to be a part of, and I just enjoyed the experience.”
Pulisic said the team’s performance against Australia was “not surprising’’ to him.
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“I see what this team can do,’’ he said. “We have depth, we have really strong players in a lot of positions. I don’t need to do everything. It’s such a strong team. These guys all have each other’s backs. That’s what’s so fun about it. Just to see the team performance we put in, especially how we’ve started games. … It’s been fun to watch.”
After he looked so fit, fast and effective in the first half of that first match, it’ll be fun to watch Pulisic back on the pitch in a real game again.