The United States fell short on Sunday in the Concacaf Gold Cup final with a 2-1 loss to Mexico, but will follow valuable lessons from the tournament while building next year's world cup, said coach Mauricio Pochettino.
The US went into the game early in Houston, Texas through the header of Chris Richards, but Mexico fought back by Raul Jimenez and Edson Alvarez to claim a 10th Gold Cup title.
Pochettino told reporters that although it had been a painful night for his side, the tournament had been an excellent preparation for the World Cup 2026, that the US will host together with Mexico and Canada.
“It was a huge lesson for us. It was a great tournament to realize the way we wanted to grow,” he added.
“This is the way I think we will find the way to compete better and better, and be very competitive and instead we wanted to be.
“If you lose a trophy or lose a game, it is really, very painful. But the most important thing is to have our head up because I think the tournament was fantastic and we will continue, that is the way we want to build our journey to the World Cup.”
The US reached the final, despite missing several important players, in which Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah finished controversially, while Weston McKennie, Gio Reyna and Tim Weah were unable to play because of the obligations of Club World Cup.
Pochettino, however, did not want to discuss the impact that the absence had.
“I think the schedule that we are building is the selection that it deserved to be here, and I think it is not the point to talk about the player who should be here or not,” he said.
The US then organizes South Korea and Japan in friendly competitions in September.
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