World Cup: USMNT embracing chance to play on home soil
· Yahoo Sports
SEATTLE, Wash. — Even as a native of Argentina, United States men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino couldn’t hold back feelings about the support he felt from the fans in Seattle during another dominant performance from his squad.
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The U.S. secured a spot in the knockout stage with a 2-0 win over Australia on Friday, June 19, in front of an electric crowd of 66,925 fans, and it marked the first time since 1930 the team has won back-to-back games in a World Cup.
With Paraguay’s victory over Türkiye later that night, the Americans clinch first place in Group D, setting up a knockout stage matchup against the third-place team from either Group B, E, F, I or J at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium on July 1.
The USA will not know its Round of 32 opponent until the end of the overall group play, which it concludes Thursday against Türkiye (0-2) in Los Angeles.
“Even if I am not American, after the game, I was emotional because the atmosphere was amazing, the fans were amazing,” Pochettino said. “The warm reception and the way they support us and the way they celebrate the victory, they make you feel very emotional and the players are very emotional too. I think it was an amazing and perfect connection between the energy in the stands and the team, and I think this makes us feel very proud because to connect with the people is what we wanted. And if we want to achieve good things we need the support of our fan — for sure, the fans here in Seattle, but also the rest of the country. They are all supporting us, and we feel that support and it’s amazing for the team.”
World Cup: No Pulisic, no problem for U.S. in 2-0 win over Australia
Regardless of the location, it seems the Americans are fully embracing the opportunity to play on home soil in a World Cup for the first time since 1994 — two years before Major League Soccer was born. Seattle, which joined the league in 2009, has been renowned for its passionate supporter culture, two MLS Cups, four U.S. Open Cup titles, and an historic 2022 CONCACAF Champions League victory.
The USMNT is 7-0-0 all-time in Seattle, but the last time playing there was in 2016.
On Thursday, as the team held its pre-match training session at the University of Washington, and on Friday before and after the game, the city was buzzing. Fans dressed in red, white and blue filled the streets.
That passion carried into the stadium with U-S-A chants, eruptions of cheers and songs like John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” ringing out after the win.
“Special, so special,” USMNT forward Folarin Balogun said. “It's tough to put it into words, you know, the National Anthem, and then you're seeing, you know, the helicopters go above, it's extremely special, you know, and it just gives us that, not that we need it, but it gives us that last bit of motivation before we go out there to just go out there and really go crazy.”
Alex Freeman, who scored the insurance goal just before halftime Friday, said sometimes players don’t realize the support in the stands, but he took time after the game to soak in the experience.
“After the game, we're just able to take it all in and realize, you know, how much of a great support system we have, and in the U.S. fans,” Freeman said. “I think for us, it just makes us, as a whole be able to play better, knowing that we have that kind of support outside. And I think for us … to come out and be able to kind of have that atmosphere, for the fans to kind of sing those songs that kind of make us calm and make us kind of accept the fact that we're here and we have such an amazing thing to do, and now we have more to do.”
Pochettino hopes his team keeps riding the momentum from the first two wins, as the U.S. has outscored its opponents 6-1. He doesn’t plan to start looking toward the next round, having clinched a spot, but it will be interesting to see what kind of approach he takes against Turkey with a chance to rotate and test depth or keep building energy with his starting XI.
The squad Friday saw just one change from the lineup in the opening win over Paraguay with Ricardo Pepi replacing injured Christian Pulisic. Pochettino and his staff used all five subs in the second half against the Socceroos, after turning to his bench for just three changes after Pulisic left at halftime against Paraguay.
Even with a third-place finish (by tiebreaker) in the 1930 World Cup, the U.S. has only won one game beyond group play — in 2002 with a quarterfinal appearance.
“I think we need to keep believing, believing that we can win, knowing that we need to work really hard, but at the same time enjoying the time together, building every day our journey until the next game,” Pochettino said. “It’s not changed too much, my view, my dreams or what I am seeing. It’s much better when you show a good performance and win the games. It makes easier everything, but at the same time it’s to keep believing.
“Before it was one game, three points, now it’s two games, six points. Now we need to go for the next one. To be sure we are going to arrive in good condition like the last two games, we need to enjoy, we need to work hard, we need to be responsible, we need to have discipline, we have to be tough to push to be better and not relax.”