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On first 4-game losing streak since 2007, US looks unprepared with World Cup a year away

On first 4-game losing streak since 2007, US looks unprepared with World Cup a year away

Fox Sports11-06-2025
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The only bright side for the U.S. soccer team is the World Cup starts in a year, not this week.
The Americans conceded four goals in the first half, failed to get a shot on target and were embarrassed in a 4-0 blowout loss to Switzerland in a friendly on Tuesday night.
'It's really easy to look at one game, one half, and be like, oh, this is all going to pieces, they can't come back from this,' defender Walker Zimmerman said. 'But you look even the build-up to the 2022 (World Cup), we take down Morocco 3-0 and they make it into the semifinal. Things change — that was six months apart. It's not the end of the world.'
Heading into their CONCACAF Gold Cup opener against Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday, the Americans are on a four-game losing streak for the first time since 2007 and have dropped four consecutive home games for just the third time overall and first time since 1988.
U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino blamed himself for picking a starting lineup that included four players with two or fewer international appearances. He wanted them to gain international experience but the Americans gave up four goals by the 40th minute for the first time since Nov. 9, 1980, at Mexico and the first time ever at home, according to Opta.
'It was my decision and the decision didn't work,' he said. 'It's painful because you don't want to improve losing games."
A dismayed fan base, angered by first-round elimination at last year's Copa America and two losses in the CONCACAF Nations League final four in March, is questioning the commitment of the team's player pool.
The U.S. was missing star Christian Pulisic (wanted time off); Yunus Musah (personal reason not disclosed); Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Gio Reyna (headed to the Club World Cup); Antonee Robinson, Tyler Adams and Folarin Balogun (injured); and Sergiño Dest (regaining fitness).
Dan Ndoye scored in the 13th minute, Michel Aebischer in the 23rd, Breel Embolo in the 33rd and Johan Manzambi in the 36th. Goalkeeper Matt Turner, playing his first match for club or country since March 23, spilled a shot that led to Embolo's goal. Defenders left the Swiss lots of space.
'You have to take your licks and understand where things went wrong and try to put them right in the next five days,' said defender Tim Ream, among five players who entered at the start of the second half. 'There's some individual errors that we make and we get punished for them at this level.'
Instead of a steady improvement, the U.S. has regressed since reaching the second round of the 2022 World Cup. The Americans are 5-5 under Pochettino, who took over after the Copa America flop led the U.S. Soccer Federation to fire coach Gregg Berhalter.
The U.S. also plays Saudi Arabia and Haiti in the Gold Cup's first round — the Americans have won their group in 16 of 17 Gold Cups, along with a second-place finish to Panama in 2011. They're group stage record is 40 wins, one loss and five draws.
Only winning the tournament likely will calm supporters.
'I know in this sport you're not judged on one game, one half, but you've got to be able to bounce back mentally, physically, emotionally,' Zimmerman said. 'We've played hundreds of games in our career. Some are going to be amazing. Some aren't going to be so good.'
Pochettino isn't concerned fans will give up on the U.S. team and stay away from matches.
'The fans are going to be there for sure in the Gold Cup and the World Cup," he said. 'I have no worries about that. The fans are going to be with the team."
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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But [England right-back] Lucy Bronze at the end there and that particular penalty was just stone-cold. She knew where she was going, and she just put it away. I think some of the other players, maybe the run-ups are a little off. I think people are probably tweaking their penalties from time to time, but that's what I took away from it. What were the biggest penalties that you ever made and missed? CL: We all made ours [in the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal shootout vs. Brazil] and then we had to prepare for another [shootout] in the final against Japan. And I think all of us weren't sure if we should keep our same spot or change our spot, and was the Japanese goalkeeper going to know where we were all going? So there were mind games going on within our heads. [In the final] Shannon Boxx missed hers, and then I step up and I miss mine. And then Tobin [Heath] missed hers [and we lost]. From that instance on, I knew that I had to do more preparation and I had to practice PKs more. I had to be comfortable going any spot. Then I would have to say the 2015 World Cup semifinal vs. Germany and having to make that [was the biggest]. (Lloyd converted a penalty in the 69th minute to score the USWNT's first goal in a 2-0 win.) What are you looking forward to most about Spain vs. England? CL: It's interesting. England really haven't played well. I don't like to use the word luck, but I do feel like they've had some things fall in the right direction for them in order to get it done. But they've also shown such tremendous resiliency and perseverance that I feel like I haven't seen as much from them [in the past]. It almost reminds me of the U.S. over the years. We weren't necessarily the best team or playing the best, but we were somehow finding ways to win and sometimes that's all you need. And then I look at the Spanish side where I feel like they've been playing beautiful football. Yes, Switzerland made it difficult for them in the way that they defended and put them under pressure, and Germany did as well. But I still think those moments of brilliance and individual brilliance – I believe there's a bit of a gap as far as the way Spain play. So it's just going to be really tactically interesting to see what England are going to do. If they're going to take the blueprint from Switzerland and Germany and make things compact and make things difficult for Spain to play. We saw Spain having to play a bit more direct vs. Germany. The way Spain have evolved from 2019 to now is they can beat you in a variety of ways. They can possess the ball, they can play direct, they can hunt you down. I'm just a fan of this final, so I hope that it's a really good game, that it's entertaining, and there are a lot of amazing stars that are going to be on the field playing. What's your Euros final prediction? CL: I find this one really difficult. I think Spain are the clear front-runner and they have been, and I've said that from the beginning [of this tournament]. But as we've seen, on any given day – I mean look at Germany playing down a man for some 100 minutes [in the quarterfinal vs. France] and their performance. I was not high on Germany for the entire tournament up until that point and then what they displayed will be talked about for decades to come. So I am going to go with Spain just given the history and what they've been doing this tournament. I think they have weathered adversity and still found ways to win. I think England look a bit tired and they're all a bit banged up. So I think Spain have the extra edge there. Are Spain and England the two strongest teams in the world? How would a full-strength USWNT team stack up? CL: I do think overall from this tournament that the two best teams are in the final. Doesn't mean that it's the two best teams that have been playing the best football, but when you look at everything and you look at manager Sarina Wiegman, the subs coming off the bench, the way England have been able to pull off some off these wins, that ultimately is what makes teams the best. And Spain, there's no question. If you just look at the way that they play, I think they're above everyone by a pretty decent margin. Yes, the U.S. won the last Olympics and Emma Hayes has done a phenomenal job with this group. I think that they're definitely heading in the right direction. I still think they really haven't been up against the European giants, which would be really interesting to see. [Right now] they may be third or fourth [best team in the world], hovering around there behind Spain and England. But time will tell in that regard. Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman . Get more from the UEFA Euro Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

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