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By Andrew McCarty
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The United States men's national team faces off against Turkey on Thursday night in a final group stage match with no real implications for either side.
Team USA is already booked through to the Round of 32 as the winner of Group D while Turkey can't advance, even with a win. With nothing to gain, United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino suggested American fans won't be seeing a number of players who sit on yellow cards.
He intimated that midfielder Tyler Adams, forward Folarin Balogun, defender Chris Richards and outside back Antonee Robinson would either begin the match on the bench or most likely not play at all.
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"I think it's an easy answer for the guys that have yellow cards," Pochettino said Wednesday at his prematch news conference. "I think it's unnecessary to take a risk and then take another yellow card and be not available for the next stage.
"I think that is a little bit a normal and easy answer not to play with them from the beginning."
Pochettino said he wouldn't want any of the four players to play passively while knowing another yellow card would knock them out of the next game.
"If you play tomorrow and maybe you receive an unfair yellow card and you are out, not available for the next stage, tell me in the way that you will approach the game," Pochettino said. "My answer is I need to be sure that the team that is going to [play] tomorrow, want to eat the grass here in the SoFi and play as if it's the final of the World Cup."
Team USA and Turkey kick off at 10 p.m. ET.
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