Could Mauricio Pochettino's uneasiness affect the US team's positivity?
The USA team performed brilliantly in the group stage despite losing against Türkiye. But coach Mauricio Pochettino's uneasiness could be affecting his positive atmosphere.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Despite a last-minute goal against Turkey that gave the United States a 3-2 loss, the players gathered around their spiritual leader at midfield to thank the supporters. Thousands of fans stopped to salute him. "Take Me Home, Country Roads" filled SoFi Stadium. Despite this loss, the United States won Group D and the majority of the Americas remained positive. "It was still a great group stage," said midfielder Brendan Aronson. "We're at a high level. I'm not worried."However, as Mauricio Pochettino arrived at his post-match press conference after 10pm in Western California, his dissatisfaction grew. He repeatedly defended his decision to rest most of the star players in this insignificant match, even though reporters were not asking him direct questions about it. They wanted to ask questions about his team's fight, momentum and lessons learned from entering the knockout rounds. Pochettino, before answering a question, said: "Nobody is congratulating us for finishing first in this difficult group... I congratulate the players, the staff and the fans." The only thing he did was to spoil the atmosphere. He gave controversial responses in his own way, sometimes answering strange questions.
"It's a little sad that you don't have to congratulate us for this," he concluded, basically scolding the media. He wanted more credit for the praise he had received the previous week and the year before. But he refrained from giving an explosive reaction. He reiterated his big dreams, in English and his native Spanish. Outside the press conference, a few feet away, his players were positive and more composed. Star players, naturally, wanted to play and start, and were disappointed that they did not get a chance to play."Of course, I wanted to play," midfielder Tyler Adams said. "I always want to start, I always want to play," said wingback Sergino Dest. But Dest, Adams, Chris Richards and others understood. "It's always up to the coach, and we respect his decision," Dest said. For the most part, it was a completely reasonable decision that they made nine lineup changes.
Fans of the U.S. team will begin preparations for their next knockout match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1.
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- (Mundial 2026)