Christian Pulisic rues injury as United States crash out of World Cup against Belgium

• Christian Pulisic suffered an ankle injury as the United States were eliminated with a 4-1 defeat to Belgium in the World Cup round of 16.
• The USMNT captain admitted frustration with his tournament but said the squad can still take positives from its campaign.
• Pulisic will now recover before returning to AC Milan ahead of the new club season.

Christian Pulisic admitted disappointment after injury brought his World Cup campaign to an abrupt end as the United States were eliminated with a 4-1 defeat to Belgium in the round of 16.

The AC Milan forward was forced off in the 59th minute after suffering a right ankle injury during an attempt to shoot on the edge of Belgium’s penalty area. Pulisic caught midfielder Youri Tielemans during the challenge and immediately went down in pain before being replaced by Sebastian Berhalter seven minutes later.

“I just totally twisted my ankle and my knee in one play,” Pulisic said.

“I mean, whatever. I have time to rest. It’s just unfortunate way to finish.”

The injury compounded a difficult tournament for the United States captain, who had already been managing a calf problem sustained earlier in the competition. Despite missing parts of three matches, he finished the tournament with one assist but without a goal.

“I felt really good this summer with the guys and I thought my level was high,” Pulisic said.

“Yeah, it’s disappointing. I didn’t quite have the moments I was hoping to and to try to help us to really push and get over this next step of beating a really good team.”

“I’m disappointed with myself, of course, but I’m going to try to stay positive. I did a lot of good things and the team did as well.”

Pulisic said he remained confident his teammates could produce a comeback after he left the field, despite the setback.

“I trust in the guys no matter what and we believe to the end,” he said.

“Yeah, it sucked this tournament with one earlier and then another injury now. It sucked.”

“It was tough. It was difficult for me to deal with, but we have a great team and there’s so many guys that stepped up this tournament that should be good.”

Belgium ended the United States’ hopes with an impressive attacking display, as Charles De Ketelaere scored twice while Hans Vanaken and Romelu Lukaku also found the net. Malik Tillman scored the Americans’ only goal.

Pulisic acknowledged the disappointment of the defeat but said the squad had still made progress during the tournament.

“We were really positive coming into it and there’s a lot of things to be proud of this summer for sure, but it’s always tough to lose like we did today,” he said.

“I think we put on some really good performances for sure. We made it through our group, quite dominant in fashion, and then we won the game against Bosnia.”

“We can for sure be proud of, but I just think we want to have higher hopes than that. We want to be able to go and compete with some of the best in the world and we just still have that next step to climb, where we are close.”

The United States struggled to impose the aggressive pressing style that had served them well earlier in the tournament, but Pulisic credited Belgium’s tactical approach.

“I wouldn’t say we weren’t as aggressive,” he said.

“Belgium had a good game plan and they played balls in behind us when we pressed and caused a lot of problems, won a lot of second balls and they were good in the boxes.”

“That’s what it comes down to and they were clinical.”

Pulisic also thanked supporters who backed the United States throughout the tournament on home soil.

“We’re grateful that for the support that they gave us this summer, it really felt like they took a step up and just the support behind this, I don’t know, it felt incredible,” he said.

“So those memories all keep with me forever having a World Cup in the U.S. so we’re just grateful for that support.”

The 27-year-old said his immediate focus is on recovering from injury before returning to club football with AC Milan.

“For me, it’s just going and spending some time with family and forget about the game for a little bit, of course, try to get a little bit of rest,” he said.

“We’ll be right back in a few weeks going back to preseason and back with the national team, no doubt.”

“There’s still a lot more that we want to accomplish.”