Christian Pulisic says he wanted to play USMNT friendlies before Gold Cup, was turned down by coaching staff

U.S. men's national team star Christian Pulisic said he wanted to take part in the group's friendlies against Turkiye and Switzerland this month, but Mauricio Pochettino and his coaching staff decided against it for the sake of continuity ahead of the Concacaf Gold Cup.

Pulisic joined CBS Sports's Golazo Network's Call It What You Want on Thursday to discuss his choice to skip the Gold Cup on the back of two grueling seasons with AC Milan and the national team, The announcement was made on May 22 but Pulisic's exclusion recently became a lightning rod issue in the American soccer community after retired USMNT star Landon Donovan criticized the Milan player over the weekend. Pulisic used the interview to explain his circumstances, including the conversations with Pochettino and company in the build-up to the Gold Cup roster.

"The only point that I would make with that is that I did want to be a part of, at least, the two friendlies," Pulisic said. "I did speak with the coaches, and I asked, and I wanted to be a part of the team in whatever capacity I could, and they said no. They said they only wanted one roster, and that's the coach's decision."

Call it What You Want: A weekly podcast where Jimmy Conrad, Charlie Davies and Tony Meola cover all things USMNT and the state of the beautiful game in the United States. Catch the show YouTube live every Tuesday and Thursday at 10 a.m. ET.

This month's friendlies to Turkiye and Switzerland, both defeats, preceded the Gold Cup, which for the USMNT begins on Sunday with a group stage encounter against Trinidad and Tobago. Though Pochettino called up a larger group of players for a training camp before whittling the squad down last week for the Gold Cup, the head coach wanted to work exclusively with his youth-skewing tournament roster for the friendlies.

"I fully respect that," Pulisic said. "I didn't understand it, but it is what it is. I wanted to be a part of that, but that's just the way things went, and I had to make the best decision for myself and also in the long run for my team, even though clearly some people haven't seen it that way."

The player also shed light on his decision to opt out of the Gold Cup, which he said was a decision he made with the 2026 World Cup – and his teammates – in mind.

"It sucks for me to miss out with the team," he said. "I want to be a part of the team always but to be honest and towards the second half of the season, I think my body just started talking to me and my mind and then I was starting to think what is best and what is going to be best for me going into next year and going into the World Cup and was that to play eight more games and then get no rest at all, go straight into preseason and then grind another year and then go straight into the World Cup? That's not what I felt was best for my body."

For Pulisic, the decision ended up being about joining the USMNT for the entirety of the summer stretch or not taking part in any of it. He and the coaching staff ultimately chose the latter, something he has no regrets about.

"I don't regret my decision," he said. "I think it's the right thing for me, the way I'm feeling right now is honestly really good and I'm excited that I'm already going to start getting back to training again this week and work on some things that I've really wanted to work on myself and I know that it's going to put me in an amazing position leading into the next season, so I stick with my decision."