Mauricio Pochettino insisted his United States side was the “better” team despite falling 2-0 to South Korea on Saturday in the latest demoralizing setback of the head coach’s reign.
The USMNT has struggled since Pochettino took over just shy of a year ago, dimming optimism ahead of next summer’s World Cup, and first-half goals from Son Heung-min and Lee Dong-gyeong set the tone for more disappointment in Harrison, N.J.
However, when quizzed in his post-match press conference, Pochettino had a rosy view of the defeat and claimed his team had outplayed the visitors.
“Overall, I think we were better than South Korea, but then if you are not clinical in your own area, and in the opposite box, it’s difficult,” Pochettino said. “Because we create more chances, we have, you know, the feeling that we control the game.”
He continued: “I think we need to be positive, because in the second half the team played really well. We only conceded one shot on target and then the team showed character. I am so pleased in the way that we are evolving, from the Gold Cup today with different players, but also the players start to understand what we expect from them.
“I think the attitude was great, The capacity to be on the game after 2-0, that was difficult. I think it is (normal) to be disappointed with the result because you want to win, but I think we need to take the positive things and prepare now the game in Japan that is going to be similar.”
The USMNT meets Japan on Tuesday in Columbus, and has fewer than 10 matches with his full squad until the World Cup begins. This was Pochettino’s third straight friendly defeat, having lost to Turkey and Switzerland prior to the Concacaf Gold Cup, which ended in a final defeat to archrival Mexico.
The World Cup is nine months away and the U.S. has not beaten a team in the top 25 of the FIFA ranking since the 2022 World Cup, according to TruMedia, but Pochettino was keen to stress that believes his squad will be ready to shine when the tournament arrives.
Christian Pulisic made his return to the USMNT in defeat to South Korea (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
“We need to start to win when the World Cup starts,” he said. “(There are) too many examples of teams that win during (the previous) five years and then arrive at the World Cup and they don’t arrive in the best condition. I was involved in 2002 with Argentina, we were beating (teams for) years and then (at) the World Cup and we were out in the group stage.”
He added: “I think for sure we have talented players and we are going to be much better and we are going to prove and for sure we are going to arrive in the best condition.
“That is my message to the fans. We are going to arrive in a very good condition and with the help (of) with the fans, I think we are going to be very, very difficult to beat.”
Pochettino added that he was “happy” with the performance of central defensive newcomer Tristan Blackmon, the Vancouver Whitecaps journeyman who was caught out by Son for Korea’s opening goal.
“First game [for] Tristan, playing with Tim (Ream), I think he was really really good,” Pochettino said.
Ream, the veteran center back, echoed Pochettino’s positivity.
“Yeah, we are,” Ream said, when asked if the team was making progress. “There’s a lot of things that are going in the right direction and we feel as players that its starting, and things are really clicking in games. That second half is a good example.”
(Top photo: Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images)
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