United States Men’s National Team starts off June window with loss to Türkiye

EAST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT – Saturday’s match marked the start of perhaps the most important month of Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure so far as the coach of the United States Men’s National Soccer Team.

Starting with the friendly with Türkiye, Pochettino’s squad has five scheduled matches in June and potentially more if they get beyond the group stage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The team is also just one year away from the 2026 World Cup which the United States will take part in hosting.

While a 2-1 loss to Türkiye may not be the most rousing result, Pochettino said he was satisfied with his team’s output on Saturday.

“Overall I think we can maybe say that we deserved a draw, but we lose,” Pochettino said. “But I think we need to be positive today… I think the team showed great energy, great mentality, great attitude. In this type of game maybe if you make one mistake you lose.

“But you made a mistake because it’s soccer, it’s football.”

The match started incredibly well for the US as Jack McGlynn netted a beauty of a goal to give his side the lead in the first minute.

McGlynn’s goal fired up the Connecticut crowd and for the next 20 minutes, Pochettino’s club was sharp.

Once they faced a major challenge from Türkiye however, the United States began to slip.

In the 24th minute, a pass from Johnny Cardoso deflected off Turkish forward Arda Güler and into the back of the net to tie the match. Just two minutes later with the press still heightened, a poor clearance turned into another goal for Türkiye, this time from Kerem Aktürkoğlu.

“In the first 15, 20 minutes I think we showed great quality,” Pochettino said. “But because of the emotional impact of the goal we conceded, that created a big mess in the team.”

After the second goal, the visitors kept the pressure up, relying on an impressive showing from Turkish fans in attendance.

By the end of the first half, Türkiye had outshot the U.S. 9-3 despite the home team having nearly 60 percent possession.

During the break however, Pochettino’s squad regained its composure.

In the second, the United States bounced back well, immediately getting looks on net.

“We suffered a little bit in the end of the first half but I think in the second half we recovered our energy and I think the second half was an even game,” Pochettino said.

The U.S. ripped off five shots in the first 13 minutes of the second half.

Creating some of those second half chances was Tyler Adams, who entered at halftime as a substitute.

“It’s the first time that we’ve gone down and created so many clear chances afterwards,” Adams said. “So that was a huge positive for us, now it’s just about putting the ball in the back of the net.”

In the 53rd, Striker Patrick Agyemang had a great look on net but hit it directly at goalkeeper Berke Özer.

Throughout the game Agyemang fired off three shots but was unable to bag a goal.

While Pochettino noted that Agyemang could’ve been slightly more focused at times throughout the match, he also recognized the tall task given to him by the Turkish defense.

“It was maybe his first time playing against two center backs with their experience and their quality, they are playing in the top in Europe,” Pochettino said. “Today I saw Patrick fight with two players who are some of the toughest center backs in the world.”

Even after Agyemang was subbed off in the 74th minute, the US attack kept things up. The home squad however still could not find the equalizer.

At full time, despite having controlled 59 percent of the possession and outshooting their opponents 13-11, the U.S. fell 2-1.

Still, whether it was the head coach or the players, the U.S. knew that they started off June on the right foot.

“We set the standard high, I think there’s a lot of positives to take away,” Adams said. “I think there are more positives to take away than negatives. I think it’s important to us to get back in the position where we’re starting to do the right things at the right times, making the right decisions.

“Again, I think today in a friendly game we were comfortable testing things and taking those risks, but we need to be comfortable taking those risks when it’s into actual competition.”

Next, the U.S. has one more friendly before Gold Cup group play starts on June 15 with Trinidad and Tobago. On June 10, they will host Switzerland in Nashville.

While Pochettino is always looking for a strong effort and mentality in the friendlies, he recognizes that the starting lineups against Türkiye and Switzerland will likely not be the exact same one for the upcoming tournament.

“The roster that we have built to play the Gold Cup and these two friendly games, we know that the players are at different levels, that is why these two weeks are important preparation for the gold Cup,” Pochettino said. “We want to win and compete really well in the Gold Cup. Is it going to be tough? Of course it’s going to be tough. What we expect is what we saw [today].

“I think that the roster we have is the best players that we can have. We need to believe, we need to compete like we did today, and for sure we are going to have a possibility to win the Gold Cup.”