Mauricio Pochettino has acknowledged that his USA team were outplayed after suffering a 2-0 defeat to Mexico in a friendly on Tuesday night in Guadalajara. It marked the first loss for Pochettino since taking over as the USA head coach in September, with goals from Raul Jimenez and Cesar Huerta securing victory for the home side.
Despite the setback, Pochettino urged patience and reminded fans that this was just the beginning of his tenure. Speaking in the post-match press conference, the 52-year-old former Chelsea and Tottenham manager admitted Mexico deserved their win, but pointed to the absences of key players due to injury and fatigue as a factor.
“Overall, I think Mexico was a little bit better than us and fully deserved the victory,” Pochettino said. “But for us, it’s a process that we started 10 days ago, and today was a great opportunity for our players to visit a very difficult place to play. I think only we can improve and learn from this experience.”
The USA had won their previous game under Pochettino, beating Panama 2-0, but this time they were short-handed. Pochettino expressed his gratitude to the available players, saying, “We lost some players for different reasons, and we arrived a little bit short here. I say thank you to the players because they were amazing, professional, and their behavior was amazing.”
Looking forward, Pochettino called for more challenging fixtures like the one against Mexico, as he continues to assess the squad in preparation for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held on home soil.
“We wanted to win, but we need to be positive about this type of game. We need to play more games like this to improve the knowledge that we have,” he said. “Give us time, let us evaluate all the players, and from there, I will give you a better opinion about what is much more fundamental than what I see.”
The USA will return to action in November for their Concacaf Nations League campaign, continuing their preparations for the World Cup.