Reeling U.S. must open Gold Cup with a win: 'It'll help us feel good about ourselves'
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Even without the likes of lock starters such as Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Antonee Robinson and Tim Weah, members of the U.S. men's national team's shorthanded Concacaf Gold Cup squad believe they can beat the odds and claim the regional championship for the eighth time in program history next month.
First, they have to win a soccer game.
Coming off four consecutive defeats — the United States men's longest losing streak in 18 years — Mauricio Pochettino's under-strength side heads into its Gold Cup opener on Sunday against Trinidad and Tobago (kickoff at 6 p.m. ET on FOX) desperate to snap the skid.
A victory would help the Americans kick off the three-week-long competition — the last tournament for the U.S. before next summer's FIFA World Cup on home soil — on a good foot. Perhaps as important, three points against the Soca Warriors would provide a much-needed boost in morale.
"We understand that it can't keep going on like that for much longer," U.S. center back Chris Richards told reporters before the team trained at Stanford University on Saturday. "At some point, we have to just kind of buckle up and start to play better, start to win games.
"If we win the first game, that'll set us up for the rest of the tournament," Richards continued. "It'll help us feel good about ourselves. I think it'll definitely give us momentum. But also, I think it'll give everybody around the camp just kind of a breath of fresh air. We're ready for it."
They had better be. While the U.S. is the favorite against T&T, no U.S. fan will ever take a contest against the two-island Caribbean nation lightly again — not since that shocking loss in tiny Couva, Trinidad in 2017 that cost the Americans a World Cup trip the following year.
If the vibes around the U.S. hit rock bottom then, they've come close to descending to those depths over the last 12 months.
Last July, the U.S. became the first Copa América host not to reach knockout play, a failure that cost then-coach Gregg Berhalter his job. Pochettino took over in late 2024 and started well enough, winning five of his first six games.
But with Pulisic and the rest of the first-choice regulars in the lineups, the Americans bombed in the Nations League finals in March, suffering embarrassing losses to Panama and Canada.
So when the U.S. lost both its pre-Gold Cup friendlies to Türkiye and Switzerland this month, the latter a 4-0 drubbing, alarm bells started ringing. Still, those teams, ranked 20th and 27th in FIFA's world ranking, are stronger that the foes the U.S. will face over the next few weeks.
"You always want to challenge yourself against the best players, the best teams," forward Brian White said. "If we can learn from what went wrong, I think we could have a successful tournament."
Getting Tyler Adams back would help there. The 2022 World Cup captain is one of the few usual starters in camp this summer, along with Richards and goalkeeper Matt Turner. Adams has been nursing a foot injury in recent days. He didn't dress versus the Swiss, though Pochettino is hoping to have him back soon – and possibly against T&T.
"He today was training a little bit," the coach said. "He's close to being available again."
With or without Adams, Pochettino feels this set of players is ready for the challenge.
"The circumstances are not the same as in March," he said. "In a club, if you play four league games and you lose, it can affect your emotion. But this group is new. It's nothing to do with with March. It's completely different.
"We are competing really well," Pochettino added. "The team is really in a very good level."
Now they need to prove it. Getting three points on Sunday would be a start.
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 .
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