Gregg Berhalter confirms Christian Pulisic is likely start vs Honduras on Thursday

USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter has confirmed that Christian Pulisic will likely start against Honduras in the CONCACAF Nations League on Thursday.

Pulisic made history as the first ever American player to ever win the Champions League on Saturday, coming off the bench for Chelsea and playing a phenomenal 30 minutes in the 1-0 triumph against Manchester City.

Moments into the post-match celebrations, Pulisic could be seen proudly doting a USMNT hoodie at the Estádio do Dragão.

Following his victory, USMNT personnel expected the young player to rest before joining the squad for the Nations League, with the team facing Honduras on Thursday in Denver, Colorado. 

“I mean, you try to tell Christian that he's not playing on Thursday. It's going to be a very difficult one,” said USMNT head coach Berhalter after the team’s friendly against Switzerland. “Coming off of winning the Champions League, coming in the game, making an impact in that game, he's ready to go. It would be very hard to keep him out of the lineup.”

Juventus midfielder and international teammate Weston McKennie also commented on Pulisic’s return, sharing in the high of his accomplishment. 

“Christian coming back and being fit and coming off the high of winning the Champions League, I think it’s very important. To also be able to bring that mentality over here, because we're all working towards what they accomplished the other night, and we're also working to get better," McKennie said.

"When someone wins a trophy, it just helps the group realize that we want to have a winning mentality, that we want to win games and we want to win titles, we want to win trophies. So I think him coming back into the group, we’ll be very happy to have him back and I think he'll be able to share some of his experiences as well and have it rub off on us.”

The much anticipated inaugural match of the CONCACAF Nations league is scheduled for 7:30pm at Sports Authority Field.