Christian Pulisic confirms injury status ahead of crunch Netherlands clash

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Christian Pulisic has confirmed he’ll be available for the United States Men’s National Team’s World Cup round-of-16 clash against the Netherlands on Saturday.

Pulisic put his body on the line to score the only goal of the game as the USMNT beat Iran on Tuesday, climbing to second place in Group B on five points, two behind England.

The Chelsea forward suffered an injury in scoring the goal, colliding with Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand. Pulisic was unable to continue and was replaced by Brenden Aaronson at half-time, with head coach Gregg Berhalter later revealing his star forward had been taken to hospital.

Christian Pulisic looks on during USMNT's 1-0 win over Iran Christian Pulisic looks on during USMNT's 1-0 win over Iran

Pulisic was forced off at half-time after colliding with Iran’s goalkeeper / Stuart Franklin/GettyImages

However, in what appears to be a leaked Snapchat message to his teammates, Pulisic vowed to return for Saturday’s clash with the Netherlands.

“So f****** proud of my guys,” the caption read. “I’ll be ready Saturday, don’t worry.”

Speaking to reporters after the match, Berhalter declined to give an official update on Pulisic’s status – later revealed as a pelvic contusion that will require ‚day-to-day‘ monitoring – but did praise the 24-year-old’s work ethic.

“No update on his status but I’ve been saying all along, it’s a wonderful thing when one of your best players is also one of your hardest working. He is certainly that. I can’t say enough positive things about Christian,“ he said.

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