Team USA coach gets honest about American fans before World Cup

The United States men’s national team played its final tune-up game ahead of the World Cup in a 2-1 loss to Germany that had head coach Mauricio Pochettino singing the praises of American fans.

“Maybe my expectation, or my mistake, was expecting the excitement around the U.S. team a year and a half ago to be what it is today,” Pochettino admitted.

“That was probably my mistake. We had to build that excitement again. When we started this journey towards the World Cup a year and a half ago, maybe we expected too much too soon. But now you can really feel it.”

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The Team USA head coach was proud of his team’s effort after giving up a set piece goal to Kai Havertz in the second minute. The Americans controlled much of the next hour of the game, equalizing before halftime with a volley from Antonee Robinson.

Germany eventually battled back with a 57th minute goal from Leroy Sane to hand the Americans a 2-1 loss.

“You concede the goal from the beginning, the first action of the game, and then the reaction was really positive,” Pochettino said after the game.

“To see how we react. To see how we show character, show togetherness and play under pressure — in that moment [of Havertz’s goal] I was upset, of course, but it was good for us to see the reaction of the team. The reaction was amazing.”

The USMNT’s World Cup journey begins against Paraguay on Friday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

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