Chris Richards will not take part in the United States' final World Cup tune-up against Germany, Mauricio Pochettino said Friday, leaving the center back's availability for the tournament in doubt after an ankle injury. "He’s still not ready to compete and play," Pochettino said, announcing that the staff would reassess Richards' ankle in the coming days before making a decision.
The absence matters because Richards is one of five center-backs on the 26-man roster and the U.S. opens its World Cup group stage on 12 June against Paraguay. Pochettino underlined the narrow margin for error: "I think we are going to have that opportunity in the next few days to assess him and see his ankle, and then to make a decision." He added that the team will not risk fielding players with even a "minimum risk."
The injury dates to Crystal Palace's second-to-last Premier League match of the season against Brentford, when Richards damaged his ankle; Palace manager Oliver Glasner described the issue as torn ligaments. Richards missed Palace's league finale against Arsenal and did not play in the Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano.
Back with the national team camp, Richards spent time rehabbing by himself before a Wednesday session at the National Training Center. He worked off to the side on a second field with two trainers, doing resistance band work and lateral-motion drills — visible evidence that he was pursuing a comeback but not yet at full training.
Pochettino acknowledged earlier signals that suggested a faster recovery and named the snag explicitly: "There was a line of information where we were thinking that he could play that final against Rayo Vallecano in Conference League. He was on the bench of subs, you remember? After that, [we thought] he could maybe be [involved] against Senegal. In the end, the timelines [are] lengthening and [it] angers me a bit. I’m not happy, because we know Chris Richards is an important player. Of course we all know it." The coach reiterated his stance on risk: "We are never going to take a decision to play with some player that [has a] minimum risk," and "all of the players that are going to start, or players that’s going to come from the bench, it’s because they are healthy, and they are 100% fit to play."
Richards was unavailable for the United States' 3-2 win over Senegal last weekend, a match that saw Mark McKenzie stationed at the heart of the back three while Tim Ream pushed higher from the left and Alex Freeman covered as a defensive wide option. Those options provide immediate cover for Friday's friendly, but they do not remove the longer-term question about the planned center-back rotation for the tournament.
The immediate next step is straightforward and urgent: the U.S. medical staff will reassess Richards' ankle in the next few days and then make a call. With the group-stage opener on 12 June less than two weeks away, the single sharp question now is whether the upcoming medical assessments will clear Richards in time to be part of the squad's World Cup plans. The answer will arrive with those assessments — and it will shape how the U.S. fills its central defense against Paraguay and beyond.
