USMNT kicks off a summer of redemption and audition

New York Times

15 hours ago

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. – The U.S. men's national team that will take the field here on Saturday against Turkey — and in this summer's Concacaf Gold Cup — will look far different than what would have been expected a year ago. Or, really, even just a few weeks ago.
No Christian Pulisic. He's out after requesting a rest.
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No Antonee Robinson (knee surgery), Folarin Balogun (ankle) or Ricardo Pepi (knee). No Yunus Musah (personal reasons) and no Weston McKennie, Tim Weah or Gio Reyna (FIFA Club World Cup). No Sergiño Dest, who was deemed by the U.S. staff to need more time to recover from his knee injury, or Zack Steffen, who left camp with a knee injury of his own.
That's a lot of 'no's.
So, yes, it's fair to say that the challenge has been a bit different than Mauricio Pochettino and his staff expected when they took the job after last year's Copa América failure. Unforeseen hurdles are to be expected in any job, though.
'The truth is that whenever you start a new project, you're always expecting you might find something,' Pochettino said. 'It's very difficult to foresee the situations that might arise later. The people who contact you and explain a little to you always have a different point of view. But when you're inside, you're already soaking in what's happening — like what's happening this year, what the situation is, the reality you're facing. … We know in soccer that circumstances are the circumstances that exist, and prejudging before arriving somewhere might not do it justice. It's not the reality [you'll face]. So we're always prepared.'
It is undoubtedly better that these circumstances are playing out in summer 2025 rather than summer 2026. The absences of players who would typically be expected on a national team roster have opened the door for other players.
It will give a chance for the likes of Real Salt Lake's Diego Luna, Charlotte FC's Patrick Agyemang, Orlando City's Alex Freeman and PSV's Malik Tillman to grab hold of a job.
'When these things happen, there are also many positives,' Pochettino said in an interview with Andrés Cantor on his radio network, Fútbol de Primera. Because there are many players who will have the opportunity to be with us, and many players who we thought might need a lot more time, under these circumstances, these players can have the opportunity — and why not? Some of these players will surprise us and become important players a year from now for the World Cup.'
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It's fair to say that the door isn't just open because players are absent.
The 'stars' of this group failed to get out of the group stage at Copa América. It was the 'A' team that lost to both Panama and Canada at the Concacaf Nations League in March. There is also an opportunity there because this U.S. team, with all its enormous expectations, is underperforming.
The group in camp is not blind to that reality.
'I don't think there's any denying that some of our performances have fallen short over the past year to 18 months,' said center back Walker Zimmerman, who started multiple games for the U.S. at the 2022 World Cup. 'It's something that you know us as players, we obviously aren't satisfied with, and it's a big focus, big focal point for this camp. And I think when you look at Gold Cup, and you look at some players maybe having their first experience with Gold Cup, or even young guys coming into the team in general, it's always such a great opportunity to have a month in front of a staff, get a lot of quality trainings in together, and find yourself, hopefully getting into a rhythm of playing multiple games where you can put everything on the line to try and make a World Cup team in a year's time. So it's a massive opportunity, one that I think every player should take seriously with both hands.'
In short: Jobs are up for grabs this summer.
But beyond just the year-long vision ahead of next summer's World Cup, there is a more immediate task at hand. The team in this Gold Cup has an opportunity to flip the mood around the U.S. team.
Things are about as pessimistic and negative around the U.S. as they have been over the previous two cycles. A team that had so much momentum coming out of the 2022 World Cup now feels like it's headed for an early exit at a home World Cup that was supposed to be the program's big moment.
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The expectations around the 2026 tournament were upped when the federation fired former coach Gregg Berhalter and hired Pochettino, but the results haven't yet improved.
While this group may be a 'B' team, there is still a need for results that might inject some belief back into the fan base.
U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner was part of the 2021 Gold Cup squad that followed the 'A' team's win in the Nations League with a title of their own. That win reinforced that this national team pool might be capable of something special.
'I'd be lying if I didn't say lifting that trophy on the final day would be what we consider success,' Turner said. 'That's the standard that we've set for ourselves. But at the same time things happen in soccer, and I think what we need to control is what we bring to the table every single day, the intensity, the way we push each other, the passion, the energy, the connection with the fans, the connection with each other, the connection with the staff. We're going to be together for a long period of time right now, and it's a really good opportunity for us to put a lot of things together: tactically, technically, emotionally.'
Turner knows firsthand, though, what a Gold Cup can mean. He credited that 2021 tournament with helping him solidify his place on the World Cup roster — and Turner ended up winning the starting job over Steffen.
That outcome is somewhat of a program tradition. Since 1993, at least one player who had five caps or fewer on the Gold Cup roster in the year ahead of a World Cup went on to make the World Cup roster the following year.
'There's a lot of guys here with a big opportunity to show the coaching staff and the fans who are desperate to see that passion and that energy,' Turner said. 'They have a really good opportunity to make a case for themselves to be on that World Cup squad and be a contributing member to this team for years to come.'