Pochettino: USMNT Better Than South Korea Despite Loss

United States falls to South Korea, but Pochettino sees improvements

The coach of the United States men’s national soccer team, Mauricio Pochettino, evaluated his team’s performance after the 2-0 home defeat against South Korea. Despite the adverse result, the coach highlighted a “significant improvement” in the game. The friendly match, held in Harrison, New Jersey, saw the United States go into halftime with a two-goal deficit, scored by Son Heung-Min and Lee Dong-Gyeong. Although Pochettino made several substitutions in the second half to boost the attack, the American team failed to score. This was the fourth scoreless defeat for the USMNT in the 17 matches coached by Pochettino.

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“In general, I think we were better than South Korea, but if you’re not effective in your area and in the opposite one, it’s difficult,” Pochettino commented. “We created more opportunities, we have the feeling that we controlled the game.”

Mauricio Pochettino

Pochettino expressed his disappointment with the result, but was optimistic about the team’s overall performance, assuring that positive results will come soon.

The defeat represented the sixth under Pochettino’s direction this year and the second consecutive, after the Gold Cup final against Mexico. Despite this, the Argentinian coach highlighted the team’s evolution since the Gold Cup, emphasizing the return of key players such as Christian Pulisic, Timothy Weah and Sergiño Dest. With only seven friendlies remaining before the selection of players for the pre-World Cup training camp, Pochettino has used 14 different lineups in his 17 matches. When questioned about the need to achieve more victories, Pochettino emphasized the importance of achieving positive results in the World Cup. The atmosphere at the match felt like an away game, with a large portion of the 26,500 fans supporting South Korea at the New York Red Bulls’ MLS stadium. Pochettino urged American fans to keep faith in the team, assuring them that they will give their best in nine months.

“They need to believe, the message [to the fans] is that they need to believe,” he stated. “The important thing is that at the beginning of the World Cup we have everyone who will be in the squad in their best condition.”

Mauricio Pochettino

After this defeat, the USMNT will continue its preparation for the World Cup with a match against Japan on Tuesday at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio.