Pochettino 'annoyed' as Richards out of final U.S. World Cup tuneup - ESPN

CHICAGO — United States coach Mauricio Pochettino expressed his frustration after revealing that first-choice center back Chris Richards would miss the team's final friendly before the World Cup with an ankle injury.

Richards injured ligaments in his ankle in a match for Crystal Palace against Brentford on May 17. At the time, Palace manager Oliver Glasner expressed hope that he could play in the Conference League final on May 27, but Richards was an unused substitute.

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However, Richards was held out of the United States' first warm-up game, a win over Senegal on Sunday, and will now also miss Saturday's clash with Germany in Chicago.

It is now a doubt whether he will be fit when the U.S. opens its World Cup against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on June 12. And Pochettino appeared unhappy with the word received from Crystal Palace regarding the severity of Richards' injury.

«When we decided on our final list [roster], we thought that Chris would be able to play in the final of Conference League because we had done the list before that and we had some information that we thought he would be able to play,» Pochettino told reporters at a news conference Friday.

«After that, we thought he would able to pay versus Senegal. And then today, the information we got was that his injury would take even more time. And I got a little annoyed and I am not happy because Chris Richards is an important player, and we all know that.»

Regarding Richards' selection to the 26-man World Cup roster