It’s a bitter awakening for Milan fans: during the night, around the half-hour mark of the friendly between the United States and Australia, Christian Pulisic suffered a hamstring injury. Yet another blow in an international break that seems to be decimating Serie A teams day after day. By now, fans watch every national team match involving their club’s players with anxiety -at any moment, an injury could strike. Football, more and more, feels like Squid Game: a fight for survival.
Beyond an increasingly congested and unsustainable schedule for players, national team coaches sometimes appear to take excessive risks -risks that clubs end up paying for dearly. In fact, U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino had revealed before the friendly against Ecuador that Pulisic was dealing with an ankle issue. Nevertheless, he brought him on for the final 25 minutes. Ahead of last night’s game, the USMNT’s coach said Pulisic was feeling better, but that they still needed to monitor how his ankle would respond.
During the night, Pulisic started from the first minute in the friendly against Australia, and after half an hour was forced off with a hamstring problem. Even Pochettino himself admitted that the difference in climate between Austin (where the first friendly was played) and Denver (at much higher altitude) could have posed a significant injury risk.
There’s now concern that a diplomatic row could arise between Milan and the U.S. national team -reminiscent of the tension between PSG and the French federation when Ousmane Dembl and Dsir Dou, deemed unfit by PSG’s medical staff, were fielded by Deschamps and later suffered muscle injuries. PSG subsequently sent an official letter to the French Football Federation, urgently calling for a new medical coordination protocol between clubs and national teams -one that’s more transparent and cooperative, prioritizing player health and medical oversight above all else.
The issue of coordination between clubs and national teams has never been more pressing. With an overloaded calendar and players worn down by matches, travel, climate changes, and minor knocks, proper management has become crucial. From the clubs’ perspective -as the ones who hold the players’ contracts and pay their wages- international duty, especially friendlies of questionable value, is increasingly seen as a nuisance.
In some cases, the two sides reach agreements to leave “at-risk” players out of call-ups, or to allow their early return to base -as happened with Rafa Leo, who, after Portugal’s first match, was sent back to Milanello by mutual agreement between Milan and the Portuguese federation. In the era of survival football, dialogue between clubs and federations is essential.