Indy Home Opener Sat Night @ the Mike 7 pm Kickoff
Indy Eleven went on the road to Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC and picked up a 1-1 draw. Indy Eleven midfielder Bruno Rendon has been named to the USL Championship “Team of the Week” for Week 3 of the regular season after he scored his first USLC goal in a 1-1 draw at Lexington SC on Saturday. The Eleven finished its season-opening two-match road trip with a 1-0-1 mark, good for a three-way tie for fourth with four points in the Eastern Conference, despite having a bye the first week of the campaign. The Boys in Blue host 2024 USL Champion Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC in the home opener Saturday at 7 pm at Carroll Stadium. Single-game tickets for all matches are available via Ticketmaster. Season, Flex Plan, Group, and Hospitality tickets are available here. For questions, call (317) 685-1100 during business hours or email tickets@indyeleven.com. A reminder to our Carmel FC GKs Coach James Pilkington who is also the GK coach for Indy 11 – invites everyone to come early say 6:15 pm or so to watch the Indy 11 GKs warm-up.
US Women face Brazil Next Friday night on TNT – Rodman Back on Roster
I have not had the chance to work with the Triple Espresso, Rose [Lavelle], Naomi [Girma] together since the Olympics, so it’s a long time, but to get one of them [Rodman] back is really exciting,” Hayes said.”Of course, [I] have to urge a little bit of caution [with Rodman], because she’s had an ongoing back complaint. I think she’s on the right road to that, but it can be quite easy to sort of trigger it. You can go from a position of a managed return to play, to too much. So, I have to try and find the sweet spot in camp to reintegrate her back in the team, but also to manage her, because she has a long season ahead.”Hayes continues to experiment with “less experienced players continuing to try to prove themselves,” as she said in a statement, in the early buildup to the 2027 World Cup. Eleven players on the roster have 10 caps or fewer, with an average age of 25.3 years old.”All of the players know they have to earn every roster spot, every starting spot and every minute they get as a finisher off the bench,” Hayes said. “Working with players who are striving for consistency in elite performance, so they can keep getting call-ups and keep exceling at this level, is an exciting process and one that continues with these two games.”The young faces include 17-year-old midfielder Lily Yohannes, who will return after impressing at the SheBelieves Cup despite the Americans’ loss to Japan to concede the tournament title.Midfielder Claire Hutton, 19, is the other teenager on the roster. Houston Dash full-back Avery Patterson has also received her first senior call-up.
Hayes has also recalled several players who have been absent from the USWNT since she took over as coach last year. Center-back Alana Cook and forward Ashley Hatch return to the USWNT in a training camp with games for the first time under Hayes (Hatch trained with the team in January). Each player’s last appearance for the team was in late 2023. Forward Mia Fishel will also join the USWNT as a training player in camp, along with goalkeeper Angelina Anderson. Fishel tore an ACL in USWNT camp in February 2024 and just returned to the field for Chelsea FC’s senior team on Sunday. Anderson will train alongside the three rostered goalkeepers: Jane Campbell, Mandy McGlynn and Phallon Tullis-Joyce. Hayes has said that she will use 2025 to evaluate who could be the next starting goalkeeper following the retirement of longtime starter Alyssa Naeher.”If you think about this, prior to when even Alyssa [Naeher] made the No. 1 her own, it takes a period of time to be able to solidify that,” Hayes said. “And I think it’s fair to say we’ve got a lot of really good quality goalkeepers. Who will emerge from that as the No. 1? I don’t know, but they have to take their chances when they get them.”This is a performance-related business, and each and every opportunity they get, they have to make the most of it, because, of course, that will impact my decision making as we progress. This camp, there will be changes in goal again.”
U.S. women’s national team roster by position (Club; Caps/Goals) – April matches vs. Brazil
GOALKEEPERS (3): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash; 10), Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals; 2), Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United, ENG; 0)
DEFENDERS (8): Alana Cook (Kansas City Current; 29/1), Tierna Davidson (Gotham FC; 67/3), Crystal Dunn (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA; 157/25), Emily Fox (Arsenal FC, ENG; 65/1), Tara McKeown (Washington Spirit; 3/0), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash; 0/0), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride; 3/0), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC; 105/2)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA; 25/1), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC; 31/1), Lindsey Heaps (Olympique Lyon, FRA; 163/36), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current; 1/0), Jaedyn Shaw (North Carolina Courage; 24/8), Lily Yohannes (Ajax, NED; 4/1)
FORWARDS (7): Michelle Cooper (Kansas City Current; 2/1), Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit; 22/5), Catarina Macario (Chelsea FC, ENG; 21/9), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit; 46/10), Yazmeen Ryan (Houston Dash; 7/0), Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals; 5/2), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC; 15/1)
INDY 11
#INDvCOS Preview
Rendon earns USLC “Team of the Week” honors
WISH-TV & MyINDY-TV 23 to Broadcast Indy Eleven Games for the 12th Consecutive Year
Recap-LEX 1:1 IND
Recap-MIA 1:3 IND
United Soccer League (USL) Launches Division One & Promotion/Relegation
Blake & Hogan earn USLC “Team of the Week” honors
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana Spotlight Partner for “Kick for a Cause”
Indy Eleven Announces 2025 Promotional Schedule – Tickets on Sale NOW!
#INDvCOS MATCHDAY TIMELINE:
- 4:00 PM – Parking Lot B opens (tailgating lot)
- 4:00-6:00 PM – Tailgate
- 5:30 PM – Lots A & C open
- 6:00 PM – Stadium gates, Box Office opens & Fun Zone open
- 7:00 PM – Kickoff vs. Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
Fun Zone
Fans are encouraged to visit the Fun Zone before each home match.
- Sogility will bring their Technical Soccer Zone for you to test your soccer skills.
- Fans can also play cornhole, take a shot at the inflatable goal and play bocce ball.
- Playing with soccer balls at the stadium is solely permitted in the Fun Zone
Food Trucks/Vendors
Fans are encouraged to visit the Carroll Stadium concession stands for stadium favorites and the following food trucks & vendors in attendance before and during the match:
- Union Jack
- Stadium on Wheels
- Shaved Ice
- Bull Grill
- Travelin Tom’s Coffee
- Gordon’s Milkshakes
USMNT
USMNT loses to Canada, finishes fourth in Nations League
Meltdown or Warm Up – Post Nations League USMNT Vivisection
USMNT’s poor turnout at Concacaf Nations League Final Four: A clear disconnect with fans?
Former stars Donovan, Dempsey and Wynalda call out ‘embarrassing’ USMNT after Panama loss
US Women
USWNT: Rodman back for first time since Olympics
USWNT roster named for April friendlies against Brazil
USWNT: Rodman back for first time since Olympics
USWNT to face Ireland in June friendlies
López, Dumornay, Shaw lead best U21 women’s soccer players
WORLD
Bayern threaten to sue Canada over Davies injury
Brazil fires coach Dorival after loss to Argentina
TV SCHEDULE
Sat 3/29
7 pm TV 13, ESPN+ Indy 11 vs Colorado
7:30 pm Ion TV KC Current (Chawinga) vs Utah Royals
7:30 pm Apple TV DC United vs Columbus
8:30 pm Apple TV Chicago Fire vs Montreal
10 pm Ion TV Olrando Pride (Marta) vs San Diego NWSL
10:30 pm Apple TV LAFC vs Orlando City
10:30 pm Apple TV Vancouver vs Chicago
Sun, 3/30
8:30 am ESPN+ Preston North End vs Aston Villa FA Cup
10 am ESPN+ Barcelona vs Girona
11:30 pm ESPN+ Bournmouth (Adams) vs Man City FA Cup
2:15 pm Fox, Apple TV San Jose vs Seattle Sounders
2:45 pm Para+ Napoli vs AC Milan (Pulisic, Musah)
4 pm CBSSN Chicago Stars (Naeher) vs Racing Louisville NWSL
7 pm apple TV Portland vs Houston Sunday night Futbol
8 pm CBSSN Angel City FC vs Seattle Reign FC NWSL
Tues, 4/1
2:45 pm Peacock Arsenal vs Fulham
3 pm Peacock Notingham Forest vs Man United
9:15 pm FS2 America vs Cruz Azul Champs Cup
11:15 pm Fox or FS2 LAFC vs Tigres Concacaf Champs Cup
Wed, 4/2
2:35 pm USA Man City vs Leicester City
3 pm Peacock Liverpool vs Everton
3 pm Para+ AC Milan (Pulisic) vs Inter Milan
3:30 pm ESPND + Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona Cup
9:30 pm Fox Vancouver vs Pumas Champs Cup
11:30 pm Fox Sport 1 LAFC vs Inter Miami (Messi) Champs Cup
Thur, 4/3
3 pm USA Chelsea vs Tottenham
Fri, 4/4
TBS, Max USWNT vs Brazil
NWSL Schedule
MLS Schedule
USL Schedule
USMNT weekend viewing guide: FA Cup quarterfinals
50 USMNT players to follow along with this weekend.
Saturday
- Fulham vs Crystal Palace, 8:15a on ESPN+ (free trial): Antonee Robinson missed Nations League duty with the USMNT due to issues with tendinopathy; his Cottagers host Chris Richards, Matt Turner, and Palace in an FA Cup quarterfinal.
- Juventus vs Genoa, 1p on CBS, Paramount+, FuboTV: Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, and Juve host Genoa in Serie A.
- Minnesota United vs Real Salt Lake, 8:30p: Apple TV Diego Luna and RSL visit Minnesota United in MLS.
- América vs Tigres, 9:05p TUDN USA, Univision USA, FuboTV, ViX: Alex Zendejas and América host Tigres in Liga MX.
Also in action:
- Watford vs Plymouth Argyle, 8:30a on Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo: Caleb Wiley and Watford host Plymouth Argyle in the Championship.
- Venezia vs Bologna, 10a on FOX Deportes, Paramount+, FuboTV: Gianluca Busio and Venezia welcome Bologna into town for this Serie A match.
- Mönchengladbach vs RB Leipzig, 10:30a on ESPN+: Joe Scally and Gladbach host Leipzig in the Bundesliga.
- Hoffenheim vs Augsburg, 10:30a on ESPN+: Noahkai Banks and Augsburg visit Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga.
- Holstein Kiel vs Werder Bremen, 10:30a on ESPN+: John Tolkin and Holstein Kiel host Bremen in the Bundesliga.
- Burnley vs Bristol City, 11a on Paramount+: Luca Koleosho and Burnley host Bristol City in the Championship.
- Cardiff vs Sheffield Wednesday, 11a: Ethan Horvath and Cardiff City welcome Sheffield Wednesday in for this Championship match.
- Leeds United vs Swansea, 11a on Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo: Brenden Aaronson and Leeds host Swansea in the Championship.
- Middlesbrough vs Oxford United, 11a on Paramount+: Aidan Morris and Boro host Oxford United in the Championship.
- Celtic vs Hearts, 11a on Celtic TV: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty, and Celtic host Hearts in the Scottish Premiership. Trusty missed international duty, but may be ready for action; we’ll see.
- Barça Atlètic vs Cultural Leonesa, 1p on Barça One: Diego Kochen often jumps back and forth between Barcelona’s first team and their reserves. The reserves host Cultural Leonesa in Spain’s third division.
- Standard Liège vs Mechelen, 1:15p: Marlon Fossey and Standard host Mechelen as Belgium’s first division splits into group play. Fossey and Standard are in the Europa Conference League group.
- Frankfurt vs VfB Stuttgart, 1:30p on ESPN+: Nathaniel Brown and Frankfurt host VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga. Anrie Chase has been out injured, missing some time for Stuttgart.
- Monaco vs Nice, 4:05p on beIN Sports USA, beIN Sports en Español, FuboTV, Sling TV, Fanatiz, TV5 Monde USA: Folarin Balogun may be ready to get back on the field for Monaco as they host Nice in Ligue 1.
- Colorado Rapids vs Charlotte FC, 4:30p: Tim Ream, Patrick Agyemang, and Charlotte visit Zack Steffen and the Rapids in MLS.
- Chivas vs Cruz Azul, 11:05p on Peacock, UNIVERSO, Telemundo, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, FuboTV: Cade Cowell and Chivas host Cruz Azul in Liga MX.
Sunday
- PSV vs Ajax, 8:30a on ESPN+: Malik Tillman is aiming for a return from injury for PSV, joining Sergiño Dest and Richy Ledezma as they host Ajax in the Eredivisie.
- Bournemouth vs Man City, 11:30a on ESPN+: Tyler Adams and Bournemouth look to knock giants Man City out in this FA Cup quarterfinal.
- Borussia Dortmund vs Mainz, 11:30a on ESPN+: Gio Reyna and Dortmund meet Lennard Maloney and Mainz in the Bundesliga.
- Napoli vs AC Milan, 2:45p on FOX Deportes, Paramount+, FuboTV (free trial): Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah and Milan have a big Serie A match against Napoli.
- Real Betis vs Sevilla, 3p on ESPN Deportes USA, ESPN+, FuboTV: Johnny Cardoso is back in training; we’ll see if he can play for Betis in their La Liga match with Sevilla.
Also in action:
- Utrecht vs Heerenveen, 6:15a: Paxten Aaronson and Utrecht host Heerenveen in the Eredivisie.
- Heracles vs Twente, 8:30a on ESPN+: Taylor Booth and Twente visit Heracles in the Eredivisie.
- Toulouse vs Brest, 9a on beIN Sports USA, beIN Sports en Español, FuboTV, Sling TV, Fanatiz: Mark McKenzie and Toulouse host Brest in Ligue 1.
- Cesena vs Juve Stabia, 9a on DCTV: Jonathan Klinsmann and Cesena host Juve Stabia in Serie B.
- Hajduk Split vs Sibenik, 10a: Rokas Pukštas and Split host Sibenik in Croatia’s first division.
- Salernitana vs Palermo, 11:15a on DCTV: Kristoffer Lund and Palermo visit Salernitana in Serie B.
- Dender vs Westerlo, 1:15p: Bryan Reynolds, Griffin Yow, and Westerlo visit Dender as Belgium’s top division splits into groups. Westerlo are in the Europa Conference League group.
- Portland Timbers vs Houston Dynamo, 7p: Jack McGlynn and the Dynamo visit Portland in MLS play.
Only the San Diego vs LAFC & Portland vs Houston are on Normal Apple TV without the season pass.
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Trinity Rodman returns to the USWNT, Emma Hayes continues to work around notable absences
By Meg Linehan and Jeff Rueter The Athletic March 25, 2025
Trinity Rodman has returned to the U.S. women’s national team roster for the first time since winning gold at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Head coach Emma Hayes named her 24-player roster, and two training players, on Tuesday for the team’s upcoming friendlies against Brazil. While the deep dive into player evaluation has continued, there is slightly less turnover in this roster compared to others with 19 players returning from the SheBelieves Cup.
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The only field player on this roster without a national team cap is Houston Dash defender Avery Patterson, earning her first senior team call-up. After being listed as a training player for SheBelieves Cup, Manchester United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce made the full roster for April and may get the chance for her first cap.
There are also multiple notable absences. Center-back Naomi Girma is still out after she left her Chelsea debut match injured earlier this month. Last week, Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor continued to confirm Girma was out but did not share a firm timetable for her return at club level.
Rose Lavelle continues to recover after ankle surgery in the offseason, and Mallory Swanson’s return remains uncertain. She has missed the first two weeks of the NWSL season with no further update provided by the Chicago Stars since March 12. The final third of Triple Espresso, Sophia Wilson, announced her pregnancy earlier this month.
Two players will join the camp as training players, with Mia Fishel joining the environment for the first time since she tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ahead of the Concacaf W Gold Cup in February 2024. Hayes also tapped Angel City FC goalkeeper Angelina Anderson as a training player, marking her return following a call-up to the January camp.
“This roster has Olympians returning, less experienced players continuing to try to prove themselves, a few uncapped players and some players who have seen and done it all. The mix of players along with two games against a dynamic Brazil team who we last saw in the gold medal game means this event will be a lot of fun,” Hayes said in U.S. Soccer’s press release. “All of the players know they have to earn every roster spot, every starting spot and every minute they get as a finisher off the bench.”
USWNT April friendlies roster
Goalkeepers (3): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals), Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United)
Defenders (8): Alana Cook (KC Current), Tierna Davidson (Gotham FC), Crystal Dunn (Paris Saint-Germain), Emily Fox (Arsenal), Tara McKeown (Washington Spirit), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC)
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Midfielders (6): Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Heaps (Lyon), Claire Hutton (KC Current), Jaedyn Shaw (NC Courage), Lily Yohannes (Ajax)
Forwards (7): Michelle Cooper (KC Current), Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit), Catarina Macario (Chelsea FC), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Yazmeen Ryan (Houston Dash), Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC)
What’s the end game?
We know you’ve heard it before, but 2025’s major theme is player evaluation at the start of the cycle. Nothing has changed here, even with two “fun” games against Brazil and the extra spice of the Olympic gold rematch.
Hayes has a couple of uncapped players to look at in Tullis-Joyce, finally promoted to the full roster, and Patterson as potential attacking-minded outside back depth. Patterson was part of January’s Futures Camp which featured under-23 players alongside the senior team.
Hayes has also opted to bring in two veteran players, Alana Cook and Ashley Hatch, for fresh looks in 2025. Their inclusion comes as questions remain around Girma’s return and forward options without the entirety of Triple Espresso available. Hatch was called up to the USWNT January camp, but both she and Cook haven’t made an appearance for the team since 2023.
There are fewer brand new names from Hayes, but she’s still working her way through the pool on her own time — and the year remains about as free from pressure as this team experiences, even as the USWNT looks to bounce back from the loss to Japan in the SheBelieves Cup. Hayes still appears to be in individual evaluation mode with a side of tinkering — outside of the midfield which remains unchanged from SheBelieves Cup. Eventually, the switch to building meaningful chemistry will happen across the board ahead of next summer’s World Cup qualifiers, but there’s still no need to worry about it just yet.
—Meg Linehan
Who’s staying and who’s going?
The trade-off for evaluating younger players is that those spots don’t exist in a vacuum, and player selections inevitably come at the cost of more experienced players’ call-ups.
This squad is no exception. Many expected to see Wilson and Swanson miss out again. Girma is also an understandable omission as she settles in with Chelsea and deals with a possible minor injury.
Other veterans missed out for various reasons. Lynn Biyendolo has been listed as “day-to-day” by the Seattle Reign due to a lower leg injury. Abby Dahlkemper has played all 180 minutes of Bay FC’s young season but missed this U.S. squad as younger center-backs like Tara McKeown are vetted. Goalkeeper Casey Murphy seemed like a logical successor once Alyssa Naeher retired, but she’s missed successive camps as other goalkeepers get assessed.
Midfielder Hal Hershfelt seemed to be one of the new regulars for Hayes but hasn’t played for the USWNT since the December win against the Netherlands. The midfielder picked up a knock in Washington’s regular-season opener and was moving around after the Spirit’s loss last weekend in a walking boot. Defender Casey Krueger has been in fine form for Washington but hasn’t featured for Hayes since December. She spoke to the Hey Spirits podcast last month, saying she had a conversation with Hayes that indicated the team is moving forward without her.
Defender Casey Krueger said last month that she thinks the U.S. is moving forward without her. (Elsa / Getty Images for USSF)
“It sounds like things are moving forward, which I understand. And I’m happy that the player pool is so deep. Getting everybody experience, giving people the recognition that they deserve, I think that’s huge,” Krueger said.“But it also stinks. I wanted to continue playing with them for as long as I could and continue to push the pool forward and just give the experience that I have, and help in any way that I can. But it looks like that’s not the case, so I’ll be supporting from afar.” Midfielder Ashley Sanchez was part of Hayes’ January training camp but hasn’t played for the national team since October. The scale of changes plays an obvious role, as Hayes is fully committed to exploring the deep end of her player pool. For more veteran players like Krueger, Murphy, Dahlkemper and even Sanchez, however, each missed squad only leaves more reason to wonder how, if at all, they fit into Hayes’ planning ahead of 2027.
—Jeff Rueter
(Top photo: Daniela Porcelli / Getty Images)
USMNT frustrations boiling over as World Cup clock keeps on ticking
By Paul Tenorio March 24, 2025
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The frustrations with this U.S. men’s national team have been simmering for some time, built not just through a series of underwhelming performances, but also in a growing perception of complacency and entitlement.On Sunday night, after a 2-1 loss against Canada that didn’t even feel too surprising, the most productive player in the program’s history publicly voiced that disappointment.
“I’m so sick of hearing how ‘talented’ this group of players is and all the amazing clubs they play for,” USMNT legend Landon Donovan posted on X after the Concacaf Nations League Finals third-place playoff. “If you aren’t going to show up and actually give a s!%* about playing for your national team, decline the invite. Talent is great, pride is better.”Donovan was hardly alone in expressing that sentiment about a team that some have dubbed the most talented generation of players in American history. Former USMNT players Stu Holden and Clint Dempsey, and even legendary French striker Thierry Henry, noted the growing disconnect and discontent between this group, its fanbase and the program’s alumni.
The disappointment around this team is not just because of the results. Yes, this U.S. team is falling short of expectations. But it’s also how this team is losing these games. The way Panama and Canada played offered a stark contrast. They looked like they had something to prove. The U.S. looked like they believed they didn’t have to prove anything to anyone.
Christian Pulisic didn’t have his finest performances for the U.S. during the Nations League Finals. (Michael Owens/Getty Images)
The U.S. couldn’t match its opponents’ fight. They were out-willed. What once felt like a hallmark of U.S. teams now feels like a weakness. The Americans were flat against Panama, lacking the creativity and directness to break them down. There was more energy at the start against Canada, but they faded against a team that clearly wanted it more.
The narrative that this might be the U.S.’s golden generation was crafted because a group of players landed at big clubs in Europe earlier than any Americans before them. Putting aside the question of whether that was down to talent or the globalization of the sport (and the impact of Christian Pulisic’s success at Borussia Dortmund), it’s now clear that whatever ability this U.S. group has, it’s not enough to overcome teams that play like they have something more to fight for.
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Panama might not have the talent of this U.S. team, but it looked the stronger team. Canada also has players at top clubs, but it’s a team that plays with a clear chip on its shoulder. It was once a prerequisite that U.S. teams came with that mentality — and to be fair, the current players showed that level of fight at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 and in other big games, too. But that spirit has not been evident. Last year’s 3-1 win over Jamaica in the Nations League semifinal after a last-minute equalizer was a warning shot. The Copa América was obviously a reality check. A coaching change was made in search of a spark.
This week’s results at SoFi Stadium show how much work must be done to figure out exactly what has changed since the World Cup exit. Head coach Mauricio Pochettino isn’t blind to the problem. After the loss on Sunday, he pondered how to turn a collection of players that looks great on paper into a team that consistently demonstrates its talent on the field.
“We assume. It may be because we have a certain quality,” Pochettino said. “But when it comes to competing, perhaps we don’t show that quality — or that presumption of quality — that makes us appear better than our opponents in all the analysis before playing.
“But then we have to prove it. So maybe that’s what’s costing us. We assume we’re better, but when it comes to competing, when it comes to showing it, perhaps we fail to find that form.”
How Pochettino accomplishes that is his biggest task. This roster felt like Pochettino beginning to search for answers. For the 23-man squad, he called in nine MLS players from January camp, including three injury replacements. It felt like a bid to manufacture competition within the team by adding hopefuls desperate to break into the World Cup picture.
The USMNT needs to huddle up and iron out some issues before cohosting the 2026 World Cup (Alex Gallardo/Imagn Images)
It may not have changed the results, but it wasn’t a complete failure. On Sunday, Pochettino praised attacking midfielder Diego Luna for his mindset. Luna, 21, was making his competitive debut for the U.S. He hasn’t played in Europe. He played in the USL and then in MLS for Real Salt Lake. He saw this as his chance to break into a group where some might think he didn’t belong.
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“The desire and the hunger that he showed is what we want,” Pochettino said. “And that is not to say anything against the rest of the people; it’s only one example. When I told him today you are going to play, he was ready. And after playing well or not playing well, performing well, scoring, assisting — or not — that is what we want to see. And that is the example that we need to take.”
Pochettino put the onus on himself and his staff to get things right. He has had just three windows with his full team: October and November 2024 and this March camp. This summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup will be a vital opportunity to spend a month with the group and to find a way to unlock the requisite mentality needed to compete.
The Argentine manager is celebrated for creating and inspiring strong groups at Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur. Even at Chelsea, Pochettino got more out of the team he inherited. Can he unlock a similar motivation in a U.S. group that has regressed since Qatar? Could the growing discontentment around them create a feeling of us versus the world?
A pair of defeats on home soil was a disappointing twist for Mauricio Pochettino. (Alexis Quiroz/Jam Media/Getty Images)
Something must change to get this team to live up to its hype — and to do so at an all-important home World Cup that has the opportunity to inspire the next generation of American soccer fans and players.
Pochettino reminded everyone that the 2026 World Cup is still the ultimate goal. He asked fans not to lose that perspective.
“I don’t want the people to feel pessimistic,” he said. “Disappointed? Disappointed, we are all. And the fans need to feel the disappointment that we didn’t win. But I don’t want to allow (them) to feel pessimistic, because we have good players. We are going to find a way to perform. We are going to compete in a different way. We are going to get different results than Thursday and today.”
The U.S. is running out of time to figure it out. The Gold Cup, which starts in June, is probably their last best chance to generate excitement before the World Cup — and build momentum within the team itself.
Three tactical issues behind the USMNT defeats to Panama and Canada
By Anantaajith Raghuraman March 25, 2025 The Athletic
“We want to destroy Panama, (and) we want to destroy the next one,” said head coach Mauricio Pochettino prior to the USMNT’s Concacaf Nations League semifinal on March 21.
His eyes were on the final. Instead, the U.S. hit the self-destruct button to lose 1-0 to Panama courtesy of Cecilio Waterman’s added-time goal. They did it again against Canada in the third-place playoff to fall 2-1 and end their Nations League journey in anything but style.
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Pochettino emphasised taking the positives from the two matches, but his options on that front are limited. The USMNT were outplayed, outworked, and — most worryingly ahead of the 2026 World Cup at home — outfoxed tactically.
Three major issues warrant Pochettino’s immediate attention.
An unclear approach out of possession
When the U.S. beat Panama 2-0 five months ago in Pochettino’s debut, they caused problems for Thomas Christiansen’s side by winning the ball high up the pitch on multiple occasions. So it was not a surprise to see them commit multiple men forward in their March 21 meeting too.
Midfielder Tanner Tessman is conflicted on whether to push ahead or protect the back line. But as Panama pass back to goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera, he joins the press.
Mosquera plays a pass right through the gap in midfield, bypassing all six U.S. players to find a team-mate.
The space between the midfield and defence is huge as the U.S.’s back line does not push up the pitch with the midfield.
The result is that Panama now have a five-on-four situation in transition…
To Pochettino’s credit, he altered the system shortly afterward. Tyler Adams and Tessmann stayed deeper while the front four of Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, Timothy Weah and Josh Sargent pressed higher up the pitch.
Panama remained confident playing out from the back but did not have easy passes into their central attackers.
Pochettino used a similar approach against Canada, despite making five changes to his starting XI, with Canada happy to go long from defence to target their pacy front four of Ali Ahmed, Jonathan David, Tajon Buchanan and Tani Oluwaseyi. The issue the U.S. faced on this occasion was in coping with the quartet’s fluidity.
David lined up alongside Oluwaseyi up top but was excellent at dropping back to receive the ball, while Ahmed and Buchanan stayed wide. While Pochettino’s tweak against Panama had solved the U.S.’s primary issue, it was not foolproof.
In this example from the 45th minute, Canada centre-back Moise Bombito carries the ball forward under no pressure. David begins the move between the centre-backs but drops as they begin retreating to receive the ball and holds onto it to draw a defender before feeding a team-mate.
As seen in the final frame, both Oluwaseyi and Ahmed are on the blindside of U.S. defenders and can easily get into dangerous areas to meet a cross.
Neither of these moves resulted in goals, but they raise valid concerns about the USMNT’s out-of-possession approach.
Tracking back-post runners and individual errors
The Canada example prompts another concern for the U.S. — marking players at the back post. On multiple occasions against Panama and Canada, they were drawn towards the ball and left themselves vulnerable to blindside runs, with these moments often compounded by personal errors. Waterman made them pay for one of those incidents to score the winner.
The move begins with Pulisic’s ill-advised header backwards when he had more time to control the ball than he thought. The Milan forward splits the gap between his midfielders, and Waterman gets to the ball ahead of U.S. centre-back Mark McKenzie.
Waterman feeds Ismael Diaz, who passes back to midfielder Adalberto Carrasquilla. While Carrasquilla considers his options, Waterman begins his move towards the right side, unnoticed by the U.S. defenders.
Carrasquilla then plays a pass into Waterman, with the U.S. defense yet to realize that he is unmarked.
Waterman responds with an emphatic finish into the bottom corner across goalkeeper Matt Turner, whose positioning is questionable.
Alarmingly, the U.S. did not learn from this mistake and almost conceded a similar goal against Canada.
On this occasion, a cross comes into the box with Canada forward Cyle Larin peeling away to the back post unmarked.
The U.S. get the ball clear but, once again, they rush towards the ball rather than covering the spaces or marking Canada’s players. Larin receives a pass under no pressure whatsoever.
Luckily for the U.S, he delays his shot, which is blocked by a sliding Marlon Fossey.
The U.S.’s inability to track runners was their downfall for Canada’s opener, too. As Ahmed drives inside, three Canadian players are free to run into the box, with three American players in static positions.
Timothy Weah does little to stop Ahmed from delivering a pass into the box, which is attacked by two players.
When the shot eventually comes in, the U.S. players are caught between committing to block it, like McKenzie and Cameron Carter-Vickers (white circle), and the rest who are caught ball-watching.
Ultimately, it hands Oluwaseyi the simplest of chances to put Canada ahead, and he duly obliges…
The U.S. did well to get themselves back into the game through Patrick Agyemang’s equalizer and withstood Canada’s threat for most of the game before committing an avoidable error in the lead-up to David’s winner.
In the 59th minute, Turner does well to collect a cross before spotting an opening up the pitch. He goes for the long throw down the middle despite having seven players in his vicinity, two of whom (white circles) are open.
But when the camera pans forward, we see two U.S. players up against Canada’s three, resulting in a predictable conclusion: Canada winning the ball and recycling possession, with the U.S. still getting back into their shape.
Canada eventually go long and, after a scramble down the right, the ball falls to Ahmed, who sets up David.
Throw-ins
The final concern for Pochettino will be how his side deal with throw-ins. Canada’s Alastair Johnston caused problems for them on two separate occasions in the first half, with both moves requiring Turner to intervene.
The first, in the 22nd minute, sees Ismael Kone unmarked, and he collects the ball despite the U.S. winning the first header.
Kone shoots unopposed, and the volley deflects off McKennie.
Turner punches it out under pressure before the U.S. clear the ball.
Johnston gets another opportunity in the 43rd minute. Once again, the U.S. win the first header, but it falls straight to the unmarked Mathieu Choiniere, who heads it back into the mix.
From here, the ball is headed on towards the back post from where Canada direct another header towards goal, but it goes straight to Turner.
The most damning example came in the 14th minute against Panama, when the U.S. somehow turned their own throw-in into a corner for Panama in the span of 25 seconds.
The U.S.’s importance in football is being fast-tracked as Major League Soccer rises in prominence and the country prepares to host the Club World Cup this summer and the World Cup in 2026. But this month’s results are a brutal reality check.
The two USMNT performances were littered with errors and tactical issues. Pochettino must return to the drawing board ahead of the team’s next match against Turkey in June.
(Header photo: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
Worry, anger, frustration: What past USMNT greats think of struggling side
By Pablo Maurer March 26, 2025
At some point during the U.S. men’s national team’s loss to Canada in the Nations League third-place game, members of the American Outlaws, the official USMNT supporters group, began pleading with Clint Dempsey.Dempsey, to some the greatest player in the history of American men’s soccer, was at the game as an analyst for CBS Sports, stationed at a desk just in front of the supporters end. After the broadcast, Dempsey recalled the exchange during the network’s wrap-up show.Advertisement
“You had some of them saying, ‘Hey, (Clint), get ‘em right. Say something,’” Dempsey said. “And I’m like ‘Hey! Y’all let them know. Let them know what’s going on. They need to fight for y’all.’”Nobody ever needed to teach Dempsey how to fight. Born and raised in tiny Nacogdoches, Texas, Dempsey was entirely different than most American players. He grew up poor, living in a trailer in his grandparents’ backyard and playing streetball with kids twice his age. He idolized players like Diego Maradona and Cuauhtémoc Blanco and cut his teeth in the largely Mexican men’s leagues in the area, playing against opponents twice his age.Dempsey made a habit throughout his career of showing up in big games, scoring consequential goals with club and country. He largely disappeared after his retirement in 2018 and can sometimes come across as softspoken even as a pundit. But his USMNT pedigree — along with Landon Donovan, he is the program’s all-time leading goalscorer — gives his words weight. And after the USMNT’s Nations League semifinal loss against Panama, Dempsey teed off.“During my career, the biggest blow that there was was not qualifying for the World Cup in 2018,” Dempsey said. “And you think — sometimes you have to take a step back to take two steps forward. And people talked about this team being the ‘golden generation.’ … You look at the step back. Copa América, not getting out of the group there on home soil. Here tonight, in an important game as we get closer to the World Cup, another failure. It doesn’t give you a lot of hope. You have more fans here for Mexico right now than the U.S.”
Dempsey continued, pointing out that some key USMNT players will miss this summer’s Gold Cup as they compete in the FIFA Club World Cup and that the U.S. might struggle to find competitive matches as the year wears on, with other countries still in the thick of World Cup qualification.
“I’m a little nervous,” said Dempsey. “And I’m worried about the future of this U.S. men’s national team.”
Dempsey is not the only one. In the hours that followed the U.S.’s loss to Canada, former players and coaches all sounded off. To some, it may feel like an old man yelling at a cloud. With a World Cup rapidly approaching, though, the chorus of voices seems certain to grow louder if the USMNT doesn’t manage to right the ship.What You Should Read NextUSMNT film room: Where it went briefly right, then very wrong, in Canada defeatBreaking down the USMNT’s only goal in the Nations League Finals, plus the one that led to another defeat.
Like Dempsey, Donovan can more or less let his national team career do the talking.Nobody scored more goals for the USMNT than Donovan, and nobody’s goals were more consequential. Some of the most important strikes in U.S. history came off his feet — a goal against Mexico in the last 16 of the 2002 World Cup; and a trio of goals in the 2010 World Cup that included a last-gasp group-winner against Algeria, which galvanized an entire nation.
Like Dempsey, Donovan disappeared from view a bit after retirement but eventually found his legs as a coach, first in USL and then NWSL. He remains a foundational figure in the history of U.S. soccer, called upon frequently to analyze the current state of affairs.
On Sunday, Donovan’s analysis made Dempsey’s look timid.
“I’m so sick of hearing how ‘talented’ this group of players is and all of the amazing clubs they play for,” Donovan wrote on X. “If you aren’t going to show up and actually give a s!%* about playing for your national team, decline the invite. Talent is great, pride is better.”
A couple days later, Donovan calmed down a bit, but not much.
“You’re probably more objective about stuff like this,” Donovan told The Athletic, “but I was just so viscerally upset after that game. I’m just getting tired of watching all of this s**t.”
Donovan was quick to let a pair of USMNT players off the hook for their performance against Canada. Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna showed well, Donovan thought, and Christian Pulisic — invisible for long stretches of both the Panama and Canada matches — was “really hurt by these performances.”
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“Those are the only ones that stick out to me,” continued Donovan. “There were just too many guys out there who were just going through the motions. When I watch games, sometimes it’s difficult to accurately judge someone’s ‘desire.’ But you also just see what your eyes tell you. It was obvious in these games who cared.”
Donovan, like any former player, is wary of being perceived as being some sort of grumpy old man. Undoubtedly, he is representative of the prototypical American player of his era. For years, the common perception of the American player, fairly or unfairly, was that they were a little short on skill and tactical acumen but excelled at the intangibles. They were often exceptionally fit, fearless and possessed a laundry list of other nebulous descriptors: grit, determination, hustle, edge.
Landon Donovan sees the USMNT getting further away from its identity. (Photo by Rob Kinnan/Imagn Images)
USMNT teams of Donovan’s era were sometimes not the prettiest to watch, but they wore opponents down. They were led by a series of American coaches raised in the pits of this country’s college and professional soccer ecosystems, most of whom possessed a deep understanding of the American game, none more so than Bruce Arena.
“People used to hate playing against us,” Donovan said. “Even when we lost. We’d get beat 2-0 and you could tell the other team was still like ‘f***, this game is going to be a f***ing nightmare.’ Occasionally, though, we’d have a poor effort. And Bruce would say ‘Guys, a coach shouldn’t have to coach effort. That’s not my job.’
“Back then I thought that was ridiculous,” Donovan continued. “But now I think about it and realize he was spot on. The last thing Mauricio Pochettino should have to worry about is whether these guys are going to leave it all on the field or not. Leaving it all on the field — that’s been a hallmark of the American player since the mid-80s. If we lose that, we are in big, big trouble.”
Donovan, who has certainly worked with his share of young players over the years, is cautious to paint with too broad a brush when it comes to the source of the U.S.’s current perceived mentality issue. He cannot help but agree, though, that part of the issue is simply generational, and mirrored outside of the sports world.
“There is absolutely a generational piece to this,” Donovan said. “You see it all over society. People just do not take pride in what they do anymore. When I first went to Leverkusen, when I was 17, it blew my mind how much pride the server took in doing their job. That’s a server at a restaurant — not a player playing for their national team. There is a lack of sense of pride in what people do.
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“When you are proud, you are not going to let two games like that just slip by without trying to do something about it,” he added. “I would’ve been embarrassed on the field after that game against Panama. I sure as hell wouldn’t have gone into the Canada game and played that poorly. I would have been too embarrassed.”
Donovan was never lacking in pride. He’s still not. When asked whether he thinks the USMNT of 2002 or 2010 could beat what some are referring to as a “golden generation” of players, he laughed.
“We would not have let Canada or Panama beat us without it being an absolute bloodbath,” Donovan said. “I used to hate going into training camps, because I got the shit kicked out of me. The competition was real. We had real players who cared about the result and were always, without exception, willing to put themselves on the line to get a result. I can’t talk about who was more skilled or talented, but we were always responsible for the result.
“Right now,” he concluded, “of course I’d take those teams over this current one.”
Tab Ramos hails from a different era than Dempsey or Donovan, one that feels almost alien to modern observers of the USMNT.
Ramos made his World Cup debut 35 years ago as part of the 1990 team that thrust the USMNT back into the global spotlight for the first time in 40 years. It’s impossible to overstate just how different the program looked in those days. Players in the mid-to-late 80s, when Ramos entered the picture, were underpaid and overworked, nearly invisible to the general public. The U.S. sometimes struggled to schedule matches against meaningful competition, and when it did, players sometimes flew in on the day of the game and back out just after the final whistle.
Born in Uruguay, Ramos spent his adolescence in Kearny, N.J., an American soccer holy site if there ever was one. From the beginning, his understanding of the game felt different than many other players of his era. So did his technical ability. Almost beyond argument, Ramos was the most technically gifted American player of his time. That talent took him abroad, earning him contracts with Real Betis and Figueres in Spain. He was a central figure at the 1994 World Cup, which the U.S. hosted. When MLS was founded 30 years ago, Ramos was the first player signed to a contract.
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Ramos, who would go on to coach in MLS and USL after retirement and also serve as an assistant at the 2014 World Cup, has an intimate understanding of this current USMNT group. He worked with many of the squad’s players during his decade-long tenure as a coach and technical director in the U.S. youth program. Like Donovan and Dempsey, Ramos was shocked at what he saw in the Nations League.
“When I hear the players do interviews after the games, every single one of them says, ‘We need to have a stronger mentality. We need to work harder, tackle more,’” Ramos told The Athletic. “Here’s the thing: this isn’t the first time we’ve heard this. I think the fact that Pulisic, (Tyler) Adams, (Weston) McKennie, all of the important guys are saying ‘We need to get stuck in, we need to work harder.’ Well yeah, of course. But you need to stop talking about it. You need to start doing it.”
Tab Ramos doesn’t like what he sees from the current U.S. men’s national team players. (Photo by Mark Robinson/Getty Images)
In post-match interviews, Pochettino sometimes seemed almost shocked at the lack of effort from his squad and suggested, vaguely at least, that other players would be brought in to replace underperforming ones should the issue continue.
“If you were to ask any player in the world, people would say, ‘The American guys aren’t technical enough, this isn’t their game,’” Ramos said. “But at the end of the day they knew they had to play hard to beat you. Because they knew we’d fight to the end. I’m sure Pochettino was shocked. I’m sure he thought that with a full-strength squad, he probably took it for granted a little bit that his players would outwork the other team. He must have been shocked when he saw that wasn’t true.”
Like Donovan, Ramos chalks part of the current state of affairs surrounding the USMNT up to a generational shift, but his view includes some international perspective. Kids everywhere are changing, and the problem in the U.S. has more to do with soccer’s place in the cultural and sporting landscape, Ramos said.
“We don’t come from a soccer culture in this country,” he said. “All of the kids in other countries, they’re the same as our kids. They too are playing on their phone. It’s not like in Brazil or Argentina they’re not on their phone all day. But when they’re not on their phone? They are playing soccer. And they play like they mean it — they play to win. It just has to do more with our culture than some generational difference. Soccer in this country, it’s still not one of the biggest leagues, it’s fifth or sixth or seventh, however you want to look at it.”
Ramos bristles at the suggestion that this current generation of U.S. players accounts for a “golden generation” of sorts. Ramos himself hails from a foundational generation of players — the team that represented the U.S. at the 1994 World Cup, the first ever played on U.S. soil.
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“A ‘golden generation?’” Ramos said. “Are you kidding me? A this point I feel like I came from the golden generation. After seeing all of this? My generation was probably the golden generation. We took the U.S. to a World Cup after hopping fences to play in playgrounds and getting paid $400 a game to play for the Brooklyn Italians to prepare for the national team. If that’s not golden, I don’t know what is. We have just lost the essence of who we are as a soccer country.”
That ‘94 tournament served as a springboard for the founding of MLS and in many ways founded the general American public’s connection to the sport of soccer itself, one that continues to deepen every day.
Yet Ramos cannot help but be disappointed these days when he watches the USMNT play. A little over a year out from what promises to be the biggest World Cup in history, the U.S.’s Nations League matches against Panama and Canada were played in mostly-empty stadiums, with little to no fanfare. It’s a sobering reminder to Ramos, of soccer’s — or maybe American soccer’s — continued struggle for relevance.
“We were hoping for so much more,” he said. “We were hoping that soccer would get closer to the NFL, to everything else. And here we are 30 years later, and it still hasn’t happened. I’m disappointed. This is the year where everything should be clicking, everybody should be excited about the national team and how well Pulisic is doing at Milan and how McKennie is doing at Juventus and how Adams is a leader at Bournemouth.
“And guess what? People don’t even go to the games. People don’t want to see it.”
Canada sends USMNT reeling to fourth-place Nations League finish
By Paul Tenorio and Joshua Kloke
338
March 23, 2025
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Canada downed the U.S. men’s national team, 2-1, on Sunday at SoFi Stadium, claiming third place in the Concacaf Nations League, and delivering another disappointment to a U.S. team that had won the three previous versions of this tournament.
After falling to Panama in the semifinal on Thursday, the U.S. was asked to show more energy and creativity in the third-place game. There might have been some good moments, but it still was not enough to best Canada.
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The Canadians entered the game feeling like they had performed well in their semifinal loss to Mexico. There was real belief that they are a team to be taken seriously in the region, and the game against the Americans was an opportunity to prove that.
Goals from Tani Oluwaseyi and Jonathan David made the statement for Jesse Marsch’s side, which lost Alphonso Davies to injury after 12 minutes and then Marsch himself in the 54th minute after a blowup at the officiating crew.
On the other side, after an early exit from the Copa América last summer, the U.S. will go into this summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup desperate for any semblance of optimism and momentum, with the 2026 World Cup looming in the not-so-distant future.
Here’s our rapid reaction to the result:
Canada finally gets clinical performances up top
While Canada was the better team throughout Sunday, though not by the widest margin, it was what was finally presented up top that proved to be the difference: goals from the two starting forwards, David and Oluwaseyi.
Marsch moved on from his oft-used forward pairing of David and Cyle Larin after they struggled to consistently score. Coming into this match, Canada had gone goalless in half of Marsch’s 14 games in charge. Canada had generated just one shot on target against Mexico. Something had to give, which Marsch acknowledged after Thursday’s loss.
“A few more times where we can have a little bit more of an understanding of how to slow things down in the last third, and make some final passes that get us in and around the goal,” Marsch said of his team’s shortcomings in attack. “Then we can have the movements in the box that can give us more chances to be more creative in those moments.”
Oluwaseyi and David looked spirited throughout the game, fulfilling their roles well and providing those moments. Oluwaseyi acted as a poacher close to goal, punching home a quick shot after a few deflections in the 27th minute. David was given the assist on the goal.
In the second half, after multiple possible missed penalty calls, David dropped deep into the midfield as he often does for Canada. He eventually found a pocket of space inside the U.S., deftly turned in possession of the ball and curled a perfectly placed shot past U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner.
One big question coming out of Canada’s win will be the status of Larin and David as the preferred forward pairing. Marsch has no shortage of options with the recent additions of Daniel Jebbison and Promise David, making for plenty of roster intrigue leading up to the 2026 World Cup.
USMNT left grasping after two losses
U.S. men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino wanted to see more of just about everything from his team against Canada than he had in a semifinal loss to Panama a few days prior.
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“Tomorrow is going to be an important game to see how we react,” Pochettino said Saturday. “We need to show character. We need to show (that) all that we were talking (about) is not only about the result, but it’s only about improving our performance.”
More passion. More energy. More risk taking. More goals.
Pochettino got some of that in flashes, but it didn’t change the result.
Now, the U.S. coach will try to find something out of the performance off of which he can try to build. The U.S. certainly was not as flat as it was in the 1-0 loss to Panama, but at a time when this program desperately needed wins and momentum, it’s instead still left searching for answers.
Both Canada goals were aided by defensive lapses by the U.S.
Oluwaseyi’s opener was aided by a poor clearance and far too much space given to Canadian players to eventually allow a close-range finish. Those issues showed on the second goal, too. David’s 59th-minute game-winner included some frustrating defensive letdowns from the U.S.. Weah’s tackle of Tajon Buchanan bounced the ball unluckily into the path of Ali Ahmed, who found David in the U.S. box. U.S. center back Mark McKenzie dropped off of David in order to take away Buchanan’s run, but with that space afforded him inside the box, David, Canada’s deadliest finisher, easily picked out the far post.
The Americans did show more energy in the attack against a Canada team that allowed more space in transition. The one bright moment of the game featured some of the players the U.S. hoped would use this platform to make an impression: Real Salt Lake’s Diego Luna assisted on Charlotte FC forward Patrick Agyemang’s goal.
The U.S. was challenged to show how it would respond to the Panama loss, but it also had to show how it could respond to going down a goal. After Oluwaseyi opened the scoring for Canada in the 27th minute, the U.S. found life again. Tyler Adams found Tim Weah on the left wing, and Weah took on his defender well before finding Luna in the box. The RSL midfielder paused slightly to let a defender slide by, then touched it to Agyemang, who finished past Dayne St. Clair.
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The intensity of the game picked up in the second half after the penalty shout and Marsch’s red card. In the end, though, it was Canada that landed the final punch.
Pochettino seemed to stick to his plan to see players in the third-place game. Three key starters — Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams and Christian Pulisic — were all subbed out in the 69th minute. The subs, which included Gio Reyna, couldn’t turn the game in the Americans’ favor.
After two losses this week, the U.S. has just as many questions to answer as it did last summer when it fell in the group stage of the Copa América – and only about 15 months to find them before kicking off the World Cup at this very same stadium.What You Should Read NextPanama defeat conjures memories of USMNT’s most devastating lossesA loss in the Nations League semis was brutal, but it doesn’t quite rank up with some of the biggest gut-punches in USMNT history.
(Top photo: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images) Your Next Read
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Mauricio Pochettino says USMNT fans need patience after Nations League debacle
By Joshua Kloke and Paul Tenorio
89
March 23, 2025
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Mauricio Pochettino had a message for those whose belief is waning after the U.S. men’s national team’s concerning fourth-place finish in the Concacaf Nations League: Have patience.
“I don’t want that the people feel pessimistic,” the U.S. manager said after his team lost 2-1 to Canada in the tournament’s third-place game at SoFi Stadium on Sunday. “Disappointed? Disappointed, we are all. And the fans need to feel the disappointment that we didn’t win. But I don’t want to allow (them) to feel pessimistic, because I think we have good players. We are going to find a way to perform. And for sure we are going to compete in a different way. And (at) the end, we are going to get different results than Thursday and today.”
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After two more negative outcomes, losing to Panama in Thursday’s semifinal and again to a Canadian team that had coach Jesse Marsch red-carded, it is clear that the U.S. team and its Argentinean coach has a lot to fix. What it is that they need to change is not as easy to pinpoint. Right now, it feels like just about everything needs to get taken down to the studs.
“It’s back to the drawing board in terms of that intensity, that passion, that fight,” U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner said. “I think it’s pretty clear after these two games that we weren’t up to that level of intensity and some hard conversations need to be had amongst ourselves and we need to push each other to get back to that level. Because it’s not just a given that we can step onto the pitch and perform at a certain level.”
It feels like a long road and a complicated task. Or maybe not. U.S. midfielder Tyler Adams believes there is a quick way to remedy it. “Win games,” Adams said. “It’s that simple.”
Goalkeeper Matt Turner endured another disappointing afternoon. (Alexis Quiroz / Jam Media / Getty Images)
Pochettino came back time and again to the idea that the Nations League was only one stop on a journey toward the end game that is the World Cup. It’s an idea he discussed earlier this week, pointing to teams who have played well or poorly ahead of the tournament only to have opposite results at the World Cup. Pochettino said he didn’t want to let these losses overwhelm the ultimate goal.
“I don’t want to say I am happy at this (failure), don’t take me wrong, but if there (is) something negative about results, or things to learn, it’s better (to learn it) now because I think we have time,” Pochettino said. “Because if we will be in this situation in one year’s time, for sure I will tell you: ‘Houston, we have a problem.’ No? Eso es.
“But you will see. If in one year we are talking about that, it’s because we have a big problem and we were not capable to discover and to try to decide a better strategy and way to provide the team the capacity to play in a different way. I think we have time. And I prefer to let that (lesson) happen today than in one year.”
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The road to fixing things starts this summer at the Gold Cup. Pochettino and his staff will get a month with the squad, their first chance to truly spend time and try to build something within the group.
“Obviously, the feeling is not good right now,” U.S. star Christian Pulisic said. “We need to turn it around and we can hopefully build some momentum this summer, because we really do need it and with big, big tournaments ahead.”
Better vibes for Canada
On the other side, Canada can leave Los Angeles feeling positive about their ability to beat their rivals on U.S. soil. That positivity, although slightly muted given the win comes in a third-place contest, was the prevailing feeling from the Canadian side.
“The mentality of this team is strong. And today was another big test for us against a very good American team and it showed that we’re ready to compete and beat everybody in this region,” Canada assistant coach Mauro Biello said. “For many years, we were always the underdog. But I think things are starting to shift. And we’ve proven that over the last two games here.”
A turning point in the game for Canada was head coach Marsch being sent off in the 54th minute with a straight red card. Marsch had stepped on the field to shout repeatedly at referee Katia Itzel García in protest of two potential missed penalty calls on Canada forward Jonathan David.
Jesee Marsch was infuriated by two refereeing decisions. (Eliecer Aizprua Banfield / Jam Media / Getty Images)
David would score a stunner of a goal five minutes later. That goal would end up being the difference.
Biello said the goal “galvanized the team.” Yet David himself was quick to clarify, with a grin, that Marsch’s second protest might not have been totally necessary.
“So for me, the first one is a penalty. The second one, there’s nothing because I don’t even try to win the penalty. I just slipped. I think it’s an accumulation of what happened in the Mexico game and the first penalty that we didn’t get today. And his reaction I think is understandable, because you want to be taken seriously and not have the referee even just not even consider our pleas,” David said.
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Marsch’s red card appeared to change the dynamic of the game. Canada attacked more fervently afterwards . The U.S. had little response.
“I saw him over there flying about. I was loving it. He made an emotional stand for us,” Canada defender Alistair Johnson said. “I think that was something that’s been bubbling underneath the surface over these past couple of matches in terms of not getting the same whistles that he feels that we should, and that he knows that us, being Canadians, we’re a little too humble to start rolling around and begging for a call. So I think he felt like, ‘No, this is my moment. I need to make a stand to show that, f***, this isn’t right.’”
Marsch’s red card prevented him from fulfilling his postgame press conference duties. But it didn’t prevent him from injecting some life into the Canada locker room afterwards.
“(Marsch) had a smile from ear-to-ear,” Johnson said. “Beating the Americans for us is top of the agenda, as good as it gets. And then obviously for (Marsch) with his double allegiance, it probably felt really good.”
(Top photo: Alexis Quiroz / Jam Media / Getty Images)
The Ole BallCoach 