The United States only wanted to get through its final World Cup group stage match Thursday night without an injury or a red card, while Turkey was playing for a face-saving victory to end a dismal tournament.
Both teams got what they wanted most out of their meaningless meeting before the Americans head on to the knockout stage — and coach Mauricio Pochettino was annoyed by any suggestion that the Americans’ last-gasp, 3-2 defeat said anything negative about the state of his team.
Kaan Ayhan scored on the final kick of the match to send Turkey past the U.S. in the eighth minute of stoppage time for its only win of the World Cup.
The result was meaningless to the Americans, who will meet Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Round of 32 on Wednesday. Pochettino sent out nine new starters, including eight who were starting a World Cup match for the first time.
The U.S. tied it early in the second half on a goal by Sebastian Berhalter, and the Americans got within a few seconds of an unbeaten run through the group stage. But in his postgame news conference, Pochettino expressed his annoyance with what he perceived as disappointment in the result.
