Fulham defender Antonee Robinson has undergone successful knee surgery, the club confirmed on Wednesday.
Robinson has risen to be one of the best-performing Americans in Europe’s five major leagues, although he will miss the United States men’s national team’s run at the Concacaf Gold Cup.
The defender was left out of Mauricio Pochettino’s 27-player roster with the knee injury, alongside other mainstays Weston McKennie, Timothy Weah, Giovanni Reyna, Yunus Musah and Christian Pulisic.
Pulisic is taking time off after a grueling season in Europe that saw him play over 3,500 minutes for AC Milan. The USMNT boss defended the omission of his main stars at a news conference last week.
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“Many people can say it’s really important for us to be all together for the last time before the World Cup,” he said. “We decided the best for him [Pulisic], the best of the team, the best for the national team is the decision that we made.
“Sometimes we give too much importance knowing to be together and sometimes the group maybe sometimes doesn’t work in this way or build in this way … I think it is important to create this challenge. I really believe that to build a team is about staying together, to have time to work, yes, but I think we cannot underestimate the player.”
The U.S. begins its Gold Cup campaign on June 15 with a group stage match against Trinidad and Tobago. It then faces Saudi Arabia on June 19 and Haiti on June 22,
