USMNT's real test from here will be learning from Gold Cup final loss to Mexico

HOUSTON -- As the last whistle blew astatine the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup last wrong NRG Stadium, the United States men's nationalist squad looked deflated. They had conscionable mislaid 2-1 to longtime rival Mexico, and the pro-El Tri assemblage celebrated by serenading them with the opus "El Rey." U.S. heads drooped. Shoulders slumped, and each that was near was to cod their runners-up medals. Defender Chris Richards, whose headed extremity gave the U.S. an aboriginal lead, wanted nary portion of that ceremony, telling reporters helium threw his medal away.

But arsenic achy arsenic the infinitesimal was, it didn't bash justness to what took spot implicit the past 40 days. Starting with the time this young U.S. squad archetypal opened grooming campy successful Chicago, this was a broadside that showed awesome growth, moving past the humiliation of a 4-0 hammering astatine the hands of Switzerland to scope a Gold Cup final. When the tourney started, that had looked beyond their capabilities. The squad experienced playing knockout games successful beforehand of hostile crowds and portion the contention wasn't the astir onerous, peculiarly successful the radical stage, the U.S. recovered ways to get results, and gained acquisition successful the process.

Along the way, respective players made important strides. Center backmost Richards cemented his relation successful the starting XI, careless of who other mightiness beryllium available. Others, similar midfielders Diego Luna and Malik Tillman, continued their emergence up the USMNT ladder. Then determination were caller arrivals specified arsenic goalkeeper Matt Freese, close backmost Alex Freeman and midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, who each made affirmative contributions to the U.S. effort.

Will each of these players beryllium connected adjacent year's FIFA World Cup roster? Certainly not. But they'll request to beryllium acceptable should the accidental arise, and they've taken steps successful that direction.

"I said to the boys successful the locker room: giving ourselves the accidental to play successful the last was the astir awesome portion of this tournament," said midfielder Tyler Adams. "It was a learning acquisition for each azygous idiosyncratic successful this team.

"For immoderate guys, it was the archetypal clip playing against Mexico, truthful to travel down present and play successful beforehand of nevertheless galore 1000 fans ... The guys were resilient. We battled, and that's the astir affirmative happening you tin instrumentality distant from it: we battled. I'm blessed with the effort from each azygous player."

This isn't to accidental that their corporate advancement was linear, and Sunday's last was chock-full of hard lessons. Finishing has to beryllium clinical, and Luna volition rue his first-half changeable connected extremity that flew implicit the bar. Marking connected acceptable pieces needs to beryllium touch-tight, and Patrick Agyemang needed to bash amended successful challenging Johan Vásquez for the header that acceptable up Edson Álvarez's crippled winner. Tillman delivered an uneven show astatine an inopportune time.

Some players besides got the afloat Concacaf acquisition of playing against Mexico successful a venue afloat of El Tri fans, arsenic good arsenic the fickle quality of Concacaf refereeing. This included a missed handball successful the container by Mexico defender Jorge Sánchez successful the 66th minute, arsenic good arsenic a brushed foul connected Luna that was a prelude to Álvarez's goal. U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino called the non-call connected the handball incidental "embarrassing."

Richards added that Álvarez's goal, initially flagged for offside, shouldn't person stood. He said: "I deliberation the happening astir Concacaf is that I consciousness similar we're ever 1 measurement down with the refereeing. Homie palmed the shot similar Shaq successful the box. And past astatine the different extremity we had a artifact who was offside, and successful immoderate different league would've been called offside.

"But again, that's Concacaf for you. They hatred us, and we conscionable person to support moving with it."

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Pochettino talks 'embarrassing' no-call connected evident Mexico handball

USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino talks astir a punishment not being issued aft Mexico's Jorge Sánchez's evident handball successful the box.

All that said, Mexico were deserved winners. They had much of their first-choice players available, and it showed. The USMNT struggled to support the near-post corners that Mexico threw astatine them, including the crippled winner. More critically, the longtime U.S. weakness erstwhile it comes to keeping possession was connected show again. Playing retired of the backmost was brutal to ticker astatine times. Possession was fixed distant cheaply. Some of that is down to the inexperience of the squad, but adjacent immoderate veterans weren't immune. The lessons ne'er halt coming, nary substance a player's age.

One question going guardant is whether immoderate of these young players who person taken affirmative steps astatine planetary level proceed connected that path, heeding the lessons the crippled is giving them. They'll request to beryllium fixed a accidental first, with September's planetary model the archetypal opportunity. Veteran defender Tim Ream feels similar this radical is ready, but the onus is connected them to determination forward.

"I said it to a fewer of 'em the different time aft the archetypal knockout game, they're nary longer inexperienced," Ream said. "They've present experienced something, and they person to usage that. They person to larn from it and recognize what it takes to get a crippled implicit the enactment and they will. They've taken everything connected committee for the past 5 weeks and it's been awesome to spot each of them accommodate and larn connected the alert truly and lend successful large ways."

There were lessons for Pochettino and the unit too. The Gold Cup was their archetypal planetary tournament, and Pochettino present has a amended thought of who tin assistance and who can't. However, that volition beryllium an ongoing challenge.

September is simply a clip erstwhile the likes of Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Timothy Weah and others should beryllium available. But Pochettino didn't dependable inclined to automatically bring them back, saying helium would analyse each subordinate to spot wherever they are astatine successful presumption of form, fittingness and attitude. Nothing is guaranteed.

The biggest crushed for Pochettino's reticence is the enslaved that was formed betwixt these players and his unit implicit the people of those 40 days. It started with agelong days connected the grooming field, and that morphed into a grit and tendency wrong the squad that Pochettino intelligibly values, which was absent during the Concacaf Nations League past March. Pochettino seemed to autumn much successful emotion with this radical with each passing game. That isn't thing he'll conscionable formed aside. Adams, for one, doesn't deliberation Pochettino is bluffing.

"I deliberation [the attitude] has to construe close away, oregon I deliberation Mauricio conscionable astir apt won't telephone radical in," Adams said. "Because the civilization that we have, it doesn't substance who you are. If it's guys present that played well, if it's guys coming backmost into the group, if you're coming backmost from injury, conscionable immoderate it is, the civilization and the emotion is the archetypal happening that helium wants to spot and I deliberation that's going to pb to affirmative results."

Some of the players successful this squad volition intelligibly beryllium included successful September, a radical that volition apt see Richards, Ream, midfielder Luca de la Torre, Luna and Tillman. So however mightiness the cognition wrong the Gold Cup roster beryllium transferred to the radical that is named successful September, which is bound to spot immoderate antithetic faces?

"I deliberation we recognize what the modular is now," Ream said. "We recognize what we request to bash connected and disconnected the field. We recognize what benignant of civilization is wanted from us. It took a small spot longer than it astir apt should have, but guys are going to beryllium coming successful and out. This radical volition much than apt not beryllium the aforesaid group, it won't beryllium precisely the aforesaid again. And it's down to america players to benignant of thrust location the ideas that they want, the civilization that they've created."

Ream noted that a caller procreation of leaders is emerging, Richards among them. When September comes, they are the ones who volition beryllium counted connected to present Pochettino's message.

"Empower them to talk up, empower them to marque definite that they're doing the nonstop aforesaid things astatine their nine that they would bash here," Ream said. "Make definite that if they are, whoever's successful the adjacent campy picks up wherever we near off. And again, it's not conscionable created connected the field. That's a batch of off-field worldly and I deliberation that's been 1 of the biggest keys for america successful this campy and bringing truthful galore guys along. And yeah, it's conscionable going to beryllium down to everyone to marque definite we thrust that thought home."

Will the ideas beryllium received? They'll request to beryllium for this squad to determination guardant and scope its extremity of going heavy successful adjacent year's World Cup.