Christian Pulisic is the U.S. national team's unquestioned star, but his absence should allow newcomers to stake their claims to prominent roles.
The purgatory that is life without a World Cup berth continues to be the reality for U.S. national team fans, who are left to subsist on the glimpses of hope provided by younger and younger rosters being called up for largely meaningless friendlies.
That sad reality is only magnified more by an absence like Christian Pulisic's from the current squad. When the team's biggest star is left with his club team rather than brought into what would have been his first national team camp in five months it serves as a harsh reminder of the limbo the team finds itself in.