International Football
AUSTIN, Texas — The U.S. men’s national team is just a few weeks removed from the bitterness of two friendly defeats, the second of which was particularly ugly. Not nearly enough time has passed to have forgotten completely the feeling those results wrought on the group.
That made it easier for Mauricio Pochettino to deliver his postgame message after the U.S. gutted out a not-so-perfect 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia on Thursday night to secure a spot in the Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinals.
“Enjoy that feeling,” Pochettino told the group. “Understand what that feeling is like and what you just had to do, all that emotion you put out on the field, because it doesn’t come easy. So you know what you have to do now. You need to continue to do and replicate that.”
It is one thing to believe that you have a process and that the process is working. It is harder to transmit that belief when the results are not going your way. That’s why the one-goal victory over Saudi Arabia was so important, even if it wasn’t pretty. The U.S. has now won back-to-back games. The confidence and belief in the group grows a bit more as a result. And Pochettino’s message resonates more, too.
