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Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The US national team lost regional superiority, but gained some World Cup hope
In the end, the status quo went unchanged. Mexico won its second consecutive Concacaf Gold Cup trophy in a heated final with the United States in Houston's NRG Stadium on Sunday. The oddly angular cup will be tucked into Mexico's federation trophy case next to El Tri's first Concacaf Nations League title, lifted in March. The program was unquestionably on top of Concacaf before the Gold Cup – now that it's over, they still are. If anything is changing, it's the momentum in Mexico's favor. The 2-1 victory over the United States men's national team was the first time the Mexicans vanquished their arch-rivals in six years – minus one day. Advertisement Yet for the US, it feels like a fair few things have changed over the course of the last month, altering a projected 2026 World Cup roster quite substantially with 340 days to run and zero competitive games left. Related: Mexico beat USA in Gold Cup final as Pochettino decries 'embarrassing' penalty no-call The USMNT stumbled into the Gold Cup on the back of a disastrous Nations League and a pair of all-too-simple defeats to Turkey and Switzerland on the eve of the tournament. Absent star forward Christian Pulisic and a raft of other stalwarts like Weston McKennie, Antonee Robinson, Sergiño Dest and basically any striker with a track record, expectations and enthusiasm had sagged to a low not seen in the better part of a decade. But on their way to the final, the US rediscovered the moxie and intensity it had misplaced more than a year ago. Advertisement 'When you lose a trophy, it's really, really painful,' the US manager, Mauricio Pochettino, told reporters afterward, after lamenting what he saw as several suspect refereeing decisions that went against them. 'But the most important thing is to have our head up because I think the tournament was fantastic. We keep going, [this] is the way we want to build our journey to the World Cup. In this way, I have no doubt, we're going to be really, really competitive.' With what was effectively a B-team, the Americans found their fight and, along the way, a fair few players who may call into question the spots and roles of the men they filled in for. 'We found a very good group of players with the desire and the open mind to learn and to prove [themselves],' Pochettino said before the game. 'I need to say thank you to the players, because from day one they created an unbelievable atmosphere on the team – never one problem, never one issue between them.' This assessment stood in stark contrast to Pochettino's postmortem on the Nations League camp, when he accused the players of taking more interest in playing golf, going out for a meal or seeing family and friends than on performing on the field. Advertisement This is where the roster watch gets interesting. Pochettino demonstrated throughout the Gold Cup that he's unmoved by players' pedigrees, starting NYCFC's Matt Freese in goal over Premier Leaguer Matt Turner and his 52 caps. Or relying on young and barely-proven Major League Soccer players over Brenden Aaronson, who, like Turner, is a 2022 World Cup veteran and has his own half century of appearances. The Argentine coach was entirely comfortable handing the keys to the likes of Diego Luna, the little-tested Real Salt Lake spitfire, and was repaid for his faith. If this Gold Cup squad was sort of an aberration of circumstance – Pulisic decided to rest; Robinson decided to get knee surgery; Dest wasn't fit; McKennie, Tim Weah and Gio Reyna were committed to the Club World Cup instead, and so on – something impressive grew in the void. 'There's been a lot of success this summer, how the team has grown,' said Chris Richards, who scored in the final and finally put one of the starting center back positions in a headlock going forward. 'If you look at the overall theme of the whole camp, it's been a summer full of growth.' Tim Ream, the grizzled 37-year-old veteran defender and somehow very much a candidate for next summer's team, saw a spirit lost some time ago regained over the course of five weeks spent together. 'It was an opportunity to grow as players, to grow as people, to create a togetherness that we've maybe lacked in a lot of moments in the past six months to a year,' he said. Advertisement Related: Why is Saudi Arabia at the Gold Cup? It's the latest in the Kingdom's soft power campaign | Karim Zidan Certainly, the US was fairly dominated in yesterday's final. You might point out that Jorge Sánchez committed a clear handball in his own box (as Pochettino did) and that Mario Escobar's refereeing was shaky. But the Mexicans entirely deserved their title, and not just because the goals by Raúl Jiménez and Edson Álvarez were both pretty and well worked. While the US produced several scrambles in front of the Mexican goal through sheer stubbornness, their opponents were largely in control. Pochettino was perhaps too slow to react as El Tri tightened the screws on his overmatched team. Here's the glass-half-full view: Mexico competed with its A team, the squad likely to go to the World Cup. Yet the US gave them a good game before an overwhelmingly pro-Mexican crowd even without most of its attacking weapons. The abundance of joy and relief spilling from El Tri after its goals and on the final whistle was telling. Just over the course of this tournament, the US finally figured out how to utilize attacking midfielder Malik Tillman, witnessed the breakout of Luna, surprised all observers with the emergence of Sebastian Berhalter and Freese, and witnessed flashes of promise in forwards Patrick Agyemang and Damion Downs. Advertisement You wouldn't blame for Pochettino for thinking of the core of this group as his full national team at present and resist the temptation to revert to the missing men. Certainly, this team is desperate for the forward thrust brought by Robinson and Dest, Pulisic's dribbling and a semi-reliable goal scorer. Yet Tillman clearly deserves a regular place, as does Luna. With in-form options in short supply, Freese may very well be the incumbent goalkeeper now. A few others so far on the outside a month ago that they could barely even see a path to the World Cup may well be in the mix going forward. Pochettino, for his part, pushed back on the assumption that the absentees will walk right back into the team after the game. 'You already made the list?' he snapped back when a reporter asked him how he will reintegrate the likes of Pulisic, McKennie, etc. 'Or you asked artificial intelligence to do the roster for next time?' This Gold Cup, then, was an unexpectedly productive exercise. If nothing else, it put pressure on a band of national team players that was anointed and never questioned again. The US may have lost a trophy on Sunday, but it gained a new intensity to the competition for places. And that might be worth more at the World Cup.
Fox Sports
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
No moral victories for USA vs. Mexico: 'The goal is to win' the Gold Cup
HOUSTON — There are two ways to look at this version of the U.S. men's national team ahead of Sunday's Concacaf Gold Cup finale against blood rival Mexico (coverage begins at 6 p.m. PT on FOX and the FOX Sports app). On the one hand, this shorthanded squad that is missing as many as eight players likely to be in coach Mauricio Pochettino's starting lineup when the USMNT opens the 2026 World Cup in Los Angeles next summer, has already overachieved. When the regional championship began on June 13, few thought they'd seriously contend for the title. El Tri remains the bookies' favorite. A huge crowd filled mostly with El Tri supporters is expected to fill 72,000-seat NRG Stadium. The U.S. is playing with house money. For them, the tournament has already been a success. That's not how Pochettino and his team see it at all. "We need to find a way to win," the former Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham manager said on the eve of Sunday's decider. "What is going to be in the memory of the people is who will win tomorrow. Who is second, no one is going to remember. "Getting to the final of the Gold Cup was the objective," Pochettino continued. "The next step is to win. That is the most important thing." It makes sense that the Argentine isn't one for moral victories. After Christian Pulisic and most of the other regulars lost both matches at March's Concacaf Nations League finals, Pochettino assembled an MLS-heavy group this summer, sprinkling in first-choice midfielder Tyler Adams and defenders Tim Ream and Chris Richards plus rising stars like Diego Luna and Malik Tillman and charging them with restoring the fight that has been missing all too often since the 2022 World Cup. The team responded by going 3-0 in the group stage, then outlasted Costa Rica and Guatemala to reach Sunday's final. Mexico will pose their toughest test yet. "We've proved that we can surprise people, but at the end of the day, the goal is to win," said goalkeeper Matt Freese, who has started in place of incumbent Matt Turner this summer. "We haven't proved what we want to prove yet, and so the job's not finished." Competing it won't be easy. Mexico won the Nations League under new/old coach Javier Aguirre. They're led by Fulham striker Raul Jimenez, arguably the top striker in Concacaf along with Canada's Jonathan David. "Raul Jimenez is a baller," said Richards, who regularly faces him in the Premier League. And as they do whenever they play north of the Rio Grande, Mexico will pack the house – this time, the home of the NFL's Houston Texans – and turn the cavernous indoor arena into a sea of green shirts. Add it all up, and it's a perfect dress rehearsal for next summer's World Cup. "It's good for us," Pochettino said. "It's going to be maybe the last game that we're going to play under pressure. And to play under pressure is what the team needs. "We already were qualified for the World Cup" [as co-hosts], Pochettino added. "The games that we are going to play after are going to be friendly games, so it's important that we have a difficult scenario to feel the pressure, to feel the stress. Because the World Cup is going to be about feeling the pressure and the stress." The World Cup will also be about winning. While capturing the title next summer is almost certainly beyond them, hope for a deep run in 2026 remains. Beating Mexico on Sunday would increase that optimism considerably among U.S. fans. Why can't they do it? After all, there's a precedent there. Four years ago, another patchwork USMNT upset a nearly full-strength El Tri in the 2021 Gold Cup final. It was a sign of how things would shake out at the main event. The U.S. used the momentum to reach the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup the following year. Mexico, meantime, crashed out in the group stage in Qatar, failing to advance to the round of 16 for the first time in decades. Still, Sunday will mark an unfamiliar experience for many of the younger Americans, most of whom have never participated in a U.S.-Mexico match. "I'm super excited to go out there and play in a game that I've dreamt of since I was a little kid," said Luna, who along with Tillman has scored three goals so far, good for second in the Gold Cup Golden Boot race. "Being a Mexican-American, it's in my blood." The opportunity isn't lost on the older heads, either. Just ask the 37-year-old Ream, a Premier League and World Cup veteran. "I've been in this program for 15 years. It's my fourth Gold Cup. I've not won one yet," Ream said. "Are we underdogs? Maybe. Does it matter? No. It's one game to lift a trophy. That's all the motivation we need." How they pull it off doesn't matter, either. The beautiful game, this probably won't be. This will be a dogfight from beginning to end if history is any guide. That's just fine with this U.S. squad. "We kind of like the fight," Richards said. "That's something that maybe has been missing from the national team over the last few camps, few months, few years." Sunday provides the chance to show they can stand toe-to-toe with Mexico on the biggest stage this region has to offer. "It doesn't have to be perfect, doesn't have to be pretty," Freese said. "The goal is to win, plain and simple." Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States men's and women's national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ ByDougMcIntyre . recommended Get more from Gold Cup Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Fox News
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
Jesse Marsch on Canada's early Gold Cup exit: 'We're missing half of our group'
The highly-anticipated rematch between the United States and Canada will have to wait, as Les Rouges were eliminated from the CONCACAF Gold Cup in a 6-5 penalty-kick decision after a 1-1 draw with Guatemala on Sunday. Canada, which had the third-best odds to win the tournament behind the U.S. and Mexico, was set for a date with the United States in the semifinals, but things didn't go according to plan. When Canada coach Jesse Marsch was asked about his team's early exit, he cited the missing players on his roster. "If I'm honest, we're missing half of our group," Marsch told reporters. "That's not an excuse." Before the tournament started, Marsch made headlines for seemingly taking aim at the stars of the U.S. men's team for not participating in the Gold Cup. "Not one guy called me and said, 'Coach, I don't know, it's been a long year, maybe I don't come to the Gold Cup.' Not one guy," Marsch said earlier this month. "Not even close to that conversation." The most notable absence for Canada is Alphonso Davies, who many consider to be the best left back in the world. Davies sustained a torn right ACL in March during the Concacaf Nations League. Canada will co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup with the United States and Mexico next summer. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Fox Sports
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Jesse Marsch on Canada's early Gold Cup exit: 'We're missing half of our group'
The highly-anticipated rematch between the United States and Canada will have to wait, as Les Rouges were eliminated from the CONCACAF Gold Cup in a 6-5 penalty-kick decision after a 1-1 draw with Guatemala on Sunday. Canada, which had the third-best odds to win the tournament behind the U.S. and Mexico, was set for a date with the United States in the semifinals, but things didn't go according to plan. When Canada coach Jesse Marsch was asked about his team's early exit, he cited the missing players on his roster. "If I'm honest, we're missing half of our group," Marsch told reporters. "That's not an excuse." Before the tournament started, Marsch made headlines for seemingly taking aim at the stars of the U.S. men's team for not participating in the Gold Cup. "Not one guy called me and said, 'Coach, I don't know, it's been a long year, maybe I don't come to the Gold Cup.' Not one guy," Marsch said earlier this month. "Not even close to that conversation." The most notable absence for Canada is Alphonso Davies, who many consider to be the best left back in the world. Davies sustained a torn right ACL in March during the Concacaf Nations League. Canada will co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup with the United States and Mexico next summer. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! Get more from Gold Cup Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more in this topic
USA Today
28-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Concacaf Gold Cup bracket, schedule: USMNT vs. Costa Rica in quarterfinals
The U.S. men's national soccer team has won all three of its Concacaf Gold Cup matches so far, but the knockout stage will present an entirely different challenge for Mauricio Pochettino's squad. Will ghosts of recent tournaments past haunt the USMNT? The U.S. crashed out of the 2024 Copa América in the group stage, then lost in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals to Panama. On Sunday, June 29, the USMNT faces Costa Rica in a Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinal, looking to build some momentum heading into next year's World Cup. The USMNT has reached eight of the last 10 Gold Cup finals. That is a realistic goal again this summer, even for a U.S. team missing many of its key players for various reasons, most notably Christian Pulisic. Those absences have created an opportunity for others to step up. Attacking midfielder Malik Tillman now seems like a lock to make the USMNT World Cup team next year. Forward Patrick Agyemang is a matchup conundrum for opposing defenders. Defender Alex Freeman, son of former NFL wide receiver Antonio Freeman, might have played his way into the conversation, too. When is the USMNT vs. Costa Rica Gold Cup quarterfinal? Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 29. Where will the USMNT vs. Costa Rica Gold Cup quarterfinal be played? The USMNT vs, Costa Rica Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinal will be played at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. U.S. Bank Stadium is the regular home of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings and hosted Super Bowl LII. How to watch USMNT vs. Costa Rica The television broadcast will be available on FOX. The Spanish-language television broadcast will be available on Univision and TUDN. The match will stream on FOX Sports Live and Fubo. Concacaf Gold Cup bracket Saturday, June 28 Sunday, June 29 Wednesday, July 2 Sunday, July 6 Which players are on the USMNT Gold Cup roster? Goalkeepers (3): Chris Brady (Chicago Fire), Matt Freese (New York City FC), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace/England) Defenders (9): Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Alex Freeman (Orlando City SC), Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse/France), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/England), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), John Tolkin (Holstein Kiel/Germany), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC) Midfielders (9): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/England); Tyler Adams (Bournemouth/England), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps/Canada), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis/Spain), Luca de la Torre (San Diego FC), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Houston Dynamo), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia Union), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven/Netherlands) Forwards (5): Paxten Aaronson (FC Utrecht/Netherlands), Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte FC), Damion Downs (FC Köln/Germany), Brian White (Vancouver Whitecaps/Canada) USMNT 2025 schedule and results Our team of savvy editors independently handpicks all recommendations. If you purchase through our links, the USA Today Network may earn a commission. Prices were accurate at the time of publication but may change.
