Clint Dempsey says fans should be excited to watch USMNT in World Cup
Former USMNT player Clint Dempsey urges fans to get excited after the team’s strong Gold Cup showing.
Sports Seriously
Fresh off one of his best games as an AC Milan player, Christian Pulisic is starting on the bench in the Coppa Italia against Lecce on Tuesday.
The U.S. men’s national team star was dominant on Saturday, scoring two goals and adding an assist in Milan’s 3-0 Serie A win over Udinese.
The brace saw Pulisic become the USMNT’s all-time top scorer in Europe’s top five leagues with 59 goals, surpassing Clint Dempsey’s mark of 57 goals.
But with a quick turnaround between Saturday’s game in Udine and Tuesday’s match back at San Siro, Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri has opted to rotate his squad.
Ahead of his side’s round of 32 game, Allegri hinted that he would make some changes to his team.
“Tomorrow is a chance to see those who haven’t played as much, but it’s a chance to move forward and advance to the next round,” he told Sportmediaset.
Milan has a huge game on Sunday against defending champion Napoli, which tops the table after a 4W-0D-0L start. That will likely give Allegri more motivation to rest players, though the coach also knows that the Coppa Italia is a priority.
“For us, the Coppa Italia is a goal for the season,” Allegri told Milan TV. “We’ll start talking about the league again on Wednesday, tomorrow, we have a game to win. It’s important for us because we have to move forward to play in the round of 16.
“It won’t be easy, and we only have 90 minutes to secure it, because then we can’t go to penalties, because anything can happen there.”
AC Milan lineup vs. Lecce
Milan will once again be without the injured Rafael Leão, whom Allegri is hoping to have available for Napoli.
“Absolutely not tomorrow,” Allegri said of the Lecce match. “We’ll evaluate him on Thursday and Friday and then decide whether or not he’ll be available for Napoli.”
New signing Christopher Nkunku will make his first start for Milan, while goalkeeper Mike Maignan has returned to the side after missing one game with a calf injury.
