CHICAGO — Mauricio Pochettino insisted that the United States’ policy of stacking its pre-World Cup schedule with high-quality opposition has been the right approach ahead of the World Cup.The USMNT will face Germany, the No. 10 team in FIFA’s rankings and a four-time World Cup winner, on Saturday at Soldier Field. It is precisely the kind of team that the Americans have struggled mightily against during Pochettino’s tenure.The USMNT have lost all four games against European competition since Pochettino took over (Turkey, Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal) by a combined score of 13-3, and a similar outcome this weekend would be regarded as far from ideal heading into the side’s Group D opener against Paraguay on June 12.“We want to play the best in our preparations for the World Cup,” Pochettino said, before spinning the March losses to European opponents as a positive. “The tests against Portugal and Belgium (were) amazing for us to improve and to learn what we need to do and how to approach the game. I think it is a great opportunity after Senegal, it is going to be completely different team that we are going to face. It is about how to approach in a way that we can be close to (winning).”A win against Senegal on Sunday to kick off World Cup preparations provided a boost for the group, not only for the final 3-2 result against a strong opponent, but the performance therein.Christian Pulisic ended his scoring drought, which dated back to 2024 for the country and had been since December for AC Milan, while the team played swift, free-flowing soccer. There have been other peaks under Pochettino, specifically in the fall, culminating with a 5-1 win over Uruguay.