U.S. Nations League fiasco in March<\/a>.<\/p>\nAdvertisement<\/p>\n
Malik Tillman reported for his first call-up since an impressive Gold Cup. Tanner Tessmann was reintroduced after a six-month absence. Matt Turner is back in the goalkeeping mix.<\/p>\n
The roster also features regulars Tim Weah, Tim Ream, Chris Richards and Folarin Balogun, plus a group of relative newcomers who have broken from Pochettino\u2019s experimental pack.<\/p>\n
Some familiar names are missing. Tyler Adams\u2019 wife, Sarah, is scheduled to give birth any day now; Sergi\u00f1o Dest isn\u2019t quite ready for international duty after recovering from an ACL injury; and Yunus Musah hasn\u2019t done enough on the Italian club circuit to receive an invite.<\/p>\n
For the most part, though, Pochettino has gathered a squad that will form a large section of next summer\u2019s roster. With those parts in place, the time has come to build off a solid victory against Japan last month and take the next necessary steps.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWhat\u2019s most important is what we are building here in the camp,\u201d Pochettino said. \u201cOf course, we need to play and we need to perform and we need to win, because that is going to give us the credibility in our work. \u2026 I have no doubt we are going to arrive in a very good way.\u201d<\/p>\n
The urgency to win, even in friendlies, is growing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can talk about performance this, performance that, but at the end of the day, if you’re not winning games \u2026 \u201d Richards said, pausing for an instant, \u201cwinning games gives you confidence going into bigger games, into big tournaments. If we can put together some big wins against some good sides leading into the World Cup, that’s the best confidence boost.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. team has not had many big wins this year. It lost both matches at the Nations League finals and was smoked in friendlies against European competition before losing in the Gold Cup final to Mexico, its only high-level opponent of the tournament. A few days before rebounding against Japan, the Americans were outclassed by South Korea.<\/p>\n
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All in all, it was not exactly the set of results to prepare for the World Cup and build enthusiasm around the country.<\/p>\n
![\"AUSTIN,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0d978ee0-a56d-11f0-b54b-9937e26d5121.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Mauricio Pochettino guides the U.S. men’s national team through its Austin camp as it gears up for friendlies against Ecuador and Australia.<\/p>\n
(John Dorton\/ISI Photos\/USSF via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
That is why this camp and next month\u2019s home friendlies against Paraguay and Uruguay are so important. After these gatherings, Pochettino will not have his players together again until March \u2014 the final assembly before the World Cup squad is selected in May. (Portugal and Belgium are the reported opponents in the spring.)<\/p>\n
With expectations rising, \u201cWe want to put on good performances,\u201d Pulisic said. \u201cWe want to come out with good results. As simple as that: We want to understand and know where our team is and have a good feeling going forward as we get closer to the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s been a process for Pochettino, a first-time national team coach who took the helm a year ago after guiding Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain.<\/p>\n
He calls the Nations League failure a \u201cwake-up call.\u201d<\/p>\n
The March competition was \u201ca time to assess, to see, and the moment we identified the problems, we started to destroy the things that we need to destroy and start to build the house from the ground up,\u201d Pochettino said. \u201cAnd that is what’s important. It all takes time \u2026 It’s difficult for [fans] to understand that process, but I think we are on time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pochettino used the Gold Cup to test inexperienced players in a meaningful competition. He retained several of them for the September camp, mixing them with returning veterans. For this camp, he narrowed the pool and reintegrated some seasoned players.<\/p>\n
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Whether Pulisic will play Friday remains unclear. For undisclosed reasons, Pulisic, Alex Zendejas and Antonee Robinson did not train Thursday.<\/p>\n
Pulisic\u2019s absence would be disappointing. He is not only the U.S. team\u2019s best player; he is in great form in Serie A. His Italian performance has come after skipping the Gold Cup \u2014 a move that caused a stir in U.S. circles and created friction with Pochettino. From all indications, they have mended their differences.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked really hard this summer,\u201d Pulisic said. \u201cIt’s not like I just took a break. I wanted to make sure my body was in the perfect spot coming into the season and I wanted to start really strong. \u2026 It’s good to see it come to fruition, but it’s just the start of the season. I have so much more I want to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meantime, the enigmatic McKennie is seeking to reestablish himself after a six-month international absence and questions of whether he would remain with Juventus. It wasn\u2019t the first time his club future had been left up in the air during the offseason.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe summer is always a roller coaster for me \u2014 nothing’s really changed,\u201d he said. \u201cI don’t think anyone wants to have their head messed with every summer. I’m used to it whenever it comes around to summertime. I know it’s just the best time for me to put my head down and do what I do best and hopefully prove people wrong, but mostly prove myself right.\u201d<\/p>\n
His return to the U.S. team brings back not only a 2022 World Cup midfielder but a big personality.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe brings a smile to the team,\u201d Pulisic said. \u201cHe brings a lot of energy and also just his personality. He’s just a great guy to have around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tillman was passed over last month so he could focus on integrating into his new club, Bayer Leverkusen. Though he understood Pochettino\u2019s reasoning, he was still disappointed about being left out.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIf you have the opportunity to come here,\u201d he said, \u201cyou always want to come here.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Pochettino, Friday\u2019s match provides a window into his program\u2019s progress since making his U.S. debut in Austin almost a year ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s not a magic touch that you have and you can completely change things [right away],” he said. \u201cBut I think today we are so happy. \u2026 [The team has] already started to see the result how we are completely different one year ago and today. I don’t say better or worse; I say different.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 It\u2019s still mighty hot here in central Texas, calendar be damned. One step into the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213464,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[4894,121395,121396,1246,25322,15106,464,121392,56978,4122,86471,15021,3471,6593,121393,114180,12553,26,1088,4042,403,1866,99,121397,114182,121398,4899,86476,36455,121394,84938,121399],"class_list":["post-213463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ac-milan","tag-alex-zendejas","tag-antonee-robinson","tag-australia","tag-bayer-leverkusen","tag-belgium","tag-chelsea","tag-chris-richards","tag-christian-pulisic","tag-ecuador","tag-folarin-balogun","tag-gold","tag-japan","tag-juventus","tag-malik-tillman","tag-matt-turner","tag-mauricio-pochettino","tag-mexico","tag-paris-saint-germain","tag-portugal","tag-soccer","tag-south-korea","tag-sports","tag-tanner-tessmann","tag-tim-ream","tag-tim-weah","tag-tottenham-hotspur","tag-tyler-adams","tag-uruguay","tag-weston-mckennie","tag-world-cup","tag-yunus-musah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}