The U.S. men’s national team hammered Uruguay 5-1 to close out the year on Tuesday, a performance that was made even more impressive due to the number of mainstays that weren’t on the field.
But Mauricio Pochettino did not want to look at Tuesday’s win in that context, with the coach angrily responding to two questions in his press conference about missing ‘regulars.’
“I don’t want to be negative, but I hate the ‘no regular players’ [question],” Pochettino said after the game.
“What does this mean? It’s USA playing, it’s the national team. Stop with that mindset. Every time our decision to pick a starting XI, it’s the U.S. men’s national team playing.
‘After one year, I think you need to really know me that I hate to talk in this way. It’s so disrespectful because I think we need to give credit to all the guys that today were involved and [against] Paraguay too.’
Several players considered integral to the USMNT weren’t involved in the team’s November camp, including Christian Pulisic, Chris Richards, Tyler Adams, Tim Weah, Antonee Robinson, Weston McKennie, and Malik Tillman.
In addition, Pochettino completely rotated his squad after Saturday’s 2-1 win over Paraguay, with only Matt Freese and Sergiño Dest keeping their place for the Uruguay match.
The result was a lineup that averaged just 14 caps. Dest was the most experienced player in the XI with 37 international appearances.
But an inexperienced USMNT side ran roughshod over the Uruguayans, as defender Alex Freeman scored a brace and was joined on the scoresheet by Sebastian Berhalter, Diego Luna and Tanner Tessmann. The goals from Freeman, Berhalter and Tessmann were their first on the international level.
Pochettino has made a point to integrate new faces into the team during his tenure, fostering a spirit of competition that wasn’t always present under his predecessor Gregg Berhalter.
That ethos was manifested in a fiery post-game press conference, during which Pochettino said he felt like his team had lost 5-1 rather than the opposite.
“I am the USA coach. Tell me which ‘regular players’ you are talking about?” Pochettino asked. “I don’t understand what ‘regular players’ means.’
The USMNT closed out 2025 on a five-game unbeaten run against World Cup-qualified sides, with four of those matches ending in wins.
The next, and final time the USMNT will convene before the World Cup roster is named will be in March, when Pochettino’s side will reportedly face Belgium and Portugal.