USMNT star Christian Pulisic tests positive for COVID-19, will miss Chelsea-Arsenal
Christian Pulisic has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss Chelsea's match against Arsenal in Premier League action on Sunday, Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuechel confirmed. The news comes close to his reporting date for U.S. men's national team duties later this month.
“Christian [Pulisic] is unfortunately pretty easy to explain: He had a positive test and needs to follow the protocols," Tuechel said. "He’s not in training and not available for the game [against Arsenal].”
Pulisic, 22, tested positive on Wednesday and missed the club's open training session in front of supporters. The isolation period set by the UK government is a minimum of 10 days. The next match is against Liverpool on Aug. 28.
Pulisic to report for USMNT qualifying next weekend
The young midfielder also has national team duties coming up soon. The USMNT will play three matches in seven days when 2022 World Cup qualifying begins the first week of September. The roster will likely be announced by coach Gregg Berhalter on Thursday, with players reporting to Nashville for training camp on Aug. 29.
The first match is in San Salvador on Sept. 2, the second back in Nashville against Canada on Sept. 5 and the final in San Pedro Sula on Sept. 8.
Pulisic would clear UK government COVID-19 protocols on Aug. 28 — the day before players are to report to USMNT camp.
Pulisic scored in Chelsea's opening day 3-0 win against Crystal Palace last weekend. He did not play with the USMNT at the Gold Cup this summer to give himself some time off following Chelsea's Champions League win in 2020-21 and the USMNT CONCACAF Nations League victory.
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