USMNT's B team gave an A effort in Gold Cup tournament, but what does it mean for next year's World Cup?

All of American men’s soccer was reminded, after nearly a month of pretending otherwise, that trying hard can only get you so far. In the case of the United States national team, it was the CONCACAF Gold Cup final, which wasn’t bad for a group whose majority had barely played international soccer when the tournament began.

After the 90-plus minutes of Sunday night’s championship game in Houston, though, there was no doubt remaining: The USMNT will need all the Christian Pulisic (and Weston McKennie and Timothy Weah and Jedi Robinson and Sergino Dest and Ricardo Pepi and Folarin Balogun and, probably, Gio Reyna) they can get at next summer’s FIFA World Cup.

Coach Mauricio Pochettino did admirable work with a squad of players whose principal goal, with the exception of just a few, will be to find a place on the World Cup roster and then battle for some sort of role. Watching his preferred Gold Cup lineup dominated throughout Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to archrival Mexico underscored the importance of getting his most talented group together and getting them playing the style he prefers.

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Whatever style that might be.

After not quite a year, it’s still hard to define.

FIFA itself threw the biggest obstacle in the way of this serving as a true warmup tournament for the primary USMNT performers. Its Club World Cup event, which has reached the semifinal stage here in the U.S., removed McKennie, Weah and Reyna from any chance at playing the Gold Cup. With those players absent, it made little sense for Balogun, Robinson and Dest to push through injury to compete, or for Pulisic to wear out himself through six tournament games and two pre-Cup friendlies.

Had he chosen to compete, Pulisic would have been playing here with only one certain World Cup starter (central defender Chris Richards), two likely starters (midfielders Malik Tillman and Tyler Adams), one starter who’s aging out of capability (defender Tim Ream) and young attacker Diego Luna, who probably earned a shot at super-sub status.

“We have no room to complain,” Pochettino said. “The roster that is here is the roster that deserved to be here. Now is not the point to talk about the players that should be here or not should be here. We wanted to win, we are talking about the competition, we are talking about the performance. We lost a final. We are disappointed.

“I think we were so happy in the way that we worked. I told you before: I’m so proud. I say now, it’s to take the positive things.”

BONN: USMNT player ratings from Gold Cup final

Mexico celebrated really hard for defeating a JV squad, which was understandable given they won a major trophy – and they had not defeated the U.S. in a competitive game since the 2019 Gold Cup final. In between, the USMNT, the one featuring Pulisic and the rest, had won two CONCACAF Nations Leagues and a World Cup qualifying game. El Tri’s best result in the past five years against the primary U.S. group remains a home qualifier draw, and they lost to a B squad like this one in the 2021 Gold Cup final.

MORE: List of all-time Gold Cup winners

This was the fifth time Pochettino was in charge of the USMNT against an opponent rated in the world’s top 30 by FIFA. They’re 0-5. At least this time, the loss came with the abundance of talented players spectating instead of participating.

Only two players who started against Mexico, Ream and Adams, had played more than 30 times for the U.S. More than half the team had yet to accumulate 15 appearances. Some of the team’s youth and inexperience was by choice; even with so many veterans out, Pochettino excluded such prominent players as striker Josh Sargent (28 caps), right back Joe Scally (21) and central defender Cameron Carter-Vickers (19). Pochettino described the exclusion of Sargent, in particular, as a “football decision.”

With this group, the USMNT won five Gold Cup games, finishing group play as one of only two teams in the tournament to win all three games and then earning a stirring penalty shootout victory over Costa Rica in the quarterfinals and holding on to defeat Guatemala by a goal in the semis.

They even took a 1-0 lead inside the first four minutes of the final, on Richards’ beautiful header off a 40-yard free kick from midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, whose delivery was outrageously good from such a long distance.

Not long after the goal, however, the U.S. found itself unable to maintain possession. The ball-control ability of midfielder Yunus Musah, who passed on this tournament for still unexplained personal reasons, was sorely missed. Robinson’s impressive skill might have allowed the Americans to advance the ball from the back, but instead they were forced to play mostly long balls and did a dreadful job heading those passes with purpose.

Mexico wound up with a 60-40 advantage in possession. They attempted eight corner kicks to the USMNT’s none, completed 441 passes, or 57 percent more than the U.S., and had a 16-6 advantage in shots and 8-3 in shots on target.

Everything about the victory was just except the manner in which it was achieved. For all of their excellence, Mexico still needed some good fortune in the officiating department to establish a late lead. In the 66^th minute, a rare U.S. advance saw left back Max Arfsten dribble into the box but lose control of the ball; a Mexico defender slipped while covering him, then palmed the ball in front of the referee and all who watched on television. Including the replay official. No penalty kick was awarded to the Americans.

“You say silly penalty? Silly penalty. Plenty of penalties are so silly,” Pochettino said. “He pushed the hand over the ball. That was a penalty – maybe, now 2-1 for us and we are celebrating the trophy.”

Pochettino also had a legitimate gripe about the marginal foul called against Luna to set up Edson Alvarez’ headed game-winner off a deep free kick in the 77^th minute. It might have been a foul in most soccer games. Not this one, though, not after the slugfest allowed by referee Mario Escobar through the previous 76 minutes.

“I’m not crying here, and I’m not saying nothing against Mexico,” Pochettino said. “I only say if that happened against Mexico, should the coach and the players be talking the same way?”

The real USMNT – presumably – next will gather in September, for a friendly at New Jersey’s Red Bull Arena against South Korea and then one in Columbus against Japan. Pochettino was committing to nothing, and no one, on this night.

“Which players?” Pochettino said.

“All the American players have the opportunity for September to be on the roster.”

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He saw his B team give an A effort throughout the Gold Cup, even when overmatched in the final. He wants American fans to do the same at next summer’s World Cup. They did 30 years ago, famously filling the Pontiac Silverdome and the Rose Bowl. Just as spectators have not yet seen him make the difference in the USMNT they’d hoped, he’s not seen the support he anticipated.

In St. Louis, Guatemalan fans were the significant majority in the semi. It was even more so in the final in Houston in favor of Mexico.

“We need the people. We need the fans,” he said. “Fans have one year to realize how important are the fans in soccer … to be in the stadium, to support the team, not only through the internet and social media. It’s to be here, and to relate the energy.”