USMNT ‘very focused, very involved' heading into quarterfinal after rare week-long break

New York Times

a day ago

MINNEAPOLIS — In a major international tournament, it's rare for teams to have even four days between matches to reflect and prepare properly. Schedulers of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup threw the United States men's national team one of the rarest elements of any competition these days: a full week between the end of its group stage and Sunday's quarterfinal, which sees Mauricio Pochettino's side face off against Costa Rica at U.S. Bank Stadium.
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At the Minnesota Vikings' training complex in Eagan on Saturday morning, players were in a jovial mood as they warmed up. A gaggle of midfielders and attackers tried one-upping each other in a keepy-uppy circle as though the ball were a hackysack and the setting was a university quad. Multiple players practiced a different type of footwork as hip-hop blared over the training center's speakers. Pochettino and his staff made the rounds, checking in on players and taking in a relatively temperate day amid a nationwide summer heat wave.
The relaxed atmosphere was a stark contrast to what's felt like a non-stop deluge of pressure around the USMNT since last summer's group stage exit at the Gold Cup. Despite the easygoing approach going into warmups, midfielder Tyler Adams and others stressed that it was back to business ahead of Sunday's quarterfinal.
'It's weird,' Adams said of the week-long layoff between games. 'It's really weird in a tournament. I mean, I'd rather play every three days, to be honest with you, just because I think when you're in the flow of things, it keeps momentum going in the right way. But we've had time to train and work on things, so it hasn't been bad.'
Adams said the team has used the extra time to continue evolving its tactical approach under Pochettino, who has coached 13 games since taking charge on Sept. 10. Among the focuses has been how the team closes out games, working on a broader variety of systems with and without the ball, and 'different variables' to be best prepared for whatever the knockout bracket may throw their way.
This has been the longest sustained stretch that Pochettino has enjoyed with one group of players, beginning with the preparations for a pair of friendlies against Turkey and Switzerland. While the USMNT lost both of those matches, it did provide a baseline for his staff to assess and a consistent squad with which adjustments can be made. Although the pre-tournament focus was on those who opted out of the Gold Cup, especially Milan winger Christian Pulisic, Pochettino said the players in camp have especially impressed throughout the past few weeks and that he had a 'difficult choice' on who would make his lineup for a knockout clash.
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'I think this is a group of players that are very focused, very involved and very (committed) with the team,' Pochettino said on Saturday. 'And I think after more than four weeks working together, we really know what we need to do. The team is, I think, ready to compete like a team. And then football (has) too many factors and (we) know that sometimes, we can not control (them). I think all the factors that we have the possibility to control, through the action to the commitment and the enthusiasm and everything that the players did until now is fantastic.
'Now is tomorrow, is to deliver the job, is to compete and try to be better than our opponent.'
Pochettino has navigated the group stage with most of his players in full fitness and available. The lone exception is midfielder Johnny Cardoso, who didn't train with the team on Saturday as Pochettino said he 'suffered a little issue in his ankle' and will be reassessed for a potential substitute's role in the hours before kickoff.
However, Pochettino did back the performances by the other midfielders in contention to start, specifically Adams, Luca de la Torre and Sebastian Berhalter.
'I think we have midfielders that can play together,' Pochettino said, 'and maybe we can use the three or two — you know, the different combination. They're great players.'
Costa Rica is a familiar foe for the USMNT after decades of battling for supremacy in Concacaf, but has undergone its own reinvention over the past year under former Mexico manager Miguel Herrera. Their Gold Cup squad included the surprise return of legendary goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who had retired from the national team ahead of last summer's Copa América but returned after 12 months away to start in net for Herrera.
Pochettino is no stranger to Navas, having coached the 38-year-old at Paris Saint-Germain. The USMNT coach added that he and Navas had spoken after the goalkeeper joined Newell's Old Boys, Pochettino's boyhood club with which he spent the first six seasons of his own playing career. While Pochettino admitted it will be 'a fantastic moment to share tomorrow with him,' his players will be tasked with thwarting arguably the region's greatest goalkeeper for over a decade.
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In the past, Costa Rica caught opponents unaware with its opportunism going forward, giving needed breaks for a defense that has traditionally operated as a low block with few open spaces to pass through and Navas equipped to prevent any shots that do leak through the stronghold. In the group stage, however, Costa Rica ranked fourth with six goals scored, one more than Mexico and trailing only recent Concacaf Nations League semifinalists Panama, Canada and the USMNT. Three of those goals were scored by star striker Manuel Ugalde, who missed Sunday's match on a yellow card accumulation suspension.
Alonso Martinez projects to be the lead scoring threat, and the New York City striker is a familiar matchup for an MLS-heavy USMNT squad.
'Good movement, good pace up front,' defender Walker Zimmerman said of Martinez. 'Our position while attacking is gonna be extremely important, our vigilance while we have the ball in the final third. As defenders, we need to always know where he is and prevent those transition moments, because they do like to leave those two forwards up top to try and start their transition.'
The USMNT's attack will likely operate through Malik Tillman, who has arguably been the team's best player and leads the U.S. with three goals, as well as playmaker Diego Luna, whose two assists are joint-most in the tournament to date. Tillman has especially relished this chance to claim ownership over the No. 10 role, a spot he often ceded to Gio Reyna under Gregg Berhalter while Tillman played out of position on either a wing or a more withdrawn midfield role.
As an attacking midfielder under Pochettino, however, Tillman has been able to bring much of what made him a vital part of PSV's Eredivisie title defense to the national team.
'It's been great for me,' Tillman said. 'I mean, my time with the national team hasn't been great so far, but I think right now, I've played some good games, and I'm confident enough to do so in the future as well. But yeah, as I said before, the coach gives me a lot of freedom. So yes, it's only positives.'
That balance of freedom and confidence was once a hallmark of the USMNT as it navigated Concacaf competition. The past few years have upended that established hierarchy of regional supremacy, with Canada and Panama continuing on their upward trajectories under Jesse Marsch and Thomas Christiansen, respectively. Even with many supposed top options missing, this is a group that expects to win — on Sunday and, should they progress, two more games to win the Gold Cup.
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'We are brave enough to think that we can win, in every single competition,' Pochettino said to close his remarks before looking over to Tim Ream, seated to his left. It was a one-line English language closer to an answer previously delivered in Spanish. As Pochettino asked Ream to test out his Spanish for the seats and media members chuckled, Ream did what his team hopes to do tomorrow: break through the relaxed atmosphere with a professional showing.
'There's no other point in playing, right?' Ream said with full sincerity. 'There's no reason to play if you don't think you can win.'
(Top photo of Tyler Adams: Kevin Jairaj / Imagn Images)