Chris Richards was a lock for the World Cup in 2022. A big, mobile and physical central defender who had played at the top levels of European club soccer, he was just what the U.S. needed on its back line.
Then two months before the tournament he was sidelined because of a hamstring strain that wouldn’t heal. The day before the World Cup roster was announced, a devastated Richards said he wouldn’t be ready.
Fast forward nearly four years. Richards was once again a lock for the World Cup when he tore two ligaments in his left ankle two weeks before the U.S. roster would be announced. The circumstances were eerily similar — and equally painful.
However the rehab has proven much quicker this time, with Richards saying Wednesday he was ready for the Americans’ tournament opener Friday against Paraguay. And the biggest sigh of relief over that news didn’t come from Richards but from U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino, whose tactical approach to the World Cup is a lot better with Richards in the center of his defense.
“I’m ready to go,” Richards said before the team’s midday training session in Irvine. “It’s the World Cup. If there’s any time to sacrifice yourself it’s now.”
Getting there wasn’t easy, mentally or physically.
“When I first came out with the injury, I was pretty devastated. I was honestly feeling the worst,” he said. “But I kind of forced myself back on the pitch to prove to myself that it was doable.
“Once I [got] the diagnosis, it was ‘all right, how do I get ready for this game against Paraguay?’ I’ve been doing whatever it takes to be available.”
When Pochettino added Richards to his 26-man roster, it seemed like a bit of gamble. The diagnosis was originally day-to-day, but when Richards missed the season’s final two games with Crystal Palace, his English club team, and was unable to suit up for the national team’s two pre-tournament friendlies, it looked as though Richards, 26, would watch another World Cup from his couch.
But he was able to train with the team for the first time last Monday and said he believed he could go 90 minutes, if needed, Friday. Watching what Richards has gone through the last two weeks to get himself into this position was inspiring, his teammates said.
“The amount of work he put in, on the field and with the performance coaches,” said Mark McKenzie, who would lose his starting spot if Richards is healthy. “Doing everything thing he could possibly think of.”
Richards’ ankle was so swollen after the injury he had to use crutches. Those initial days were the most difficult, he said. But when doctors refused to rule out the World Cup, he immediately began planning his comeback.
“Rehab is never really fun. So it’s been long days of just trying to get my ankle right,” he said.
U.S. defender Chris Richards controls the ball during a friendly soccer match against Japan.
(Jeff Dean / Associated Press)
“I think the first time I realized I could be 100% for Friday was probably last week. It was a lot of massages, a lot of ice, a lot of compression, things like that. Once I was finally on the pitch, it felt good. That was the main thing. I can play with pain as long as functionally I’m good.”
Richards’ return will shore up a defense that was one of the U.S. team’s biggest question marks heading into the tournament. Pochettino’s preferred formation uses a three-man back line but he has no one on the roster that can match Richards as the anchor, defensive organizer and playmaker during buildups.
“Chris Richards is an important player,” he told reporters last week. “We hope that Chris can be there. But in the end we have to make a decision if he’s in form or not.”
Richards says that is no longer a question. After missing the World Cup four years ago, he said it will take a lot more than an ankle injury to keep him off the field this time.
“It’s a World Cup on home soil,” he said. “Any World Cup would mean the world to me. But especially being able to play [in] America. That’s my number one thing. So, for me, I knew that I had to do whatever it took to be here.”
On Wednesday he announced his arrival, two days earlier than necessary.