Mauricio Pochettino delivers mandate for USMNT: World Cup will now start in March
The World Cup may not begin until June, but for Mauricio Pochettino’s men, the tournament mindset needs to start when their next camp begins in March.The U.S.Men’s National Team is staring down the beginning of a most consequential World Cup — with the tournament being hosted, in part, by the United States — and the pressure is sky-high on the Americans to make some noise.It has led to an increased importance on the international break in March, when the Americans will reconvene for the first time since November and they play a pair of tune-up games against Belgium and Portugal.“The idea is that the World Cup will start now in March when we are all together,” Pochettino said during a conference call Thursday.
“It’s time to show like we were showing the last camps in November and October, our identity, our way to play in the way we want to perform in the World Cup.”While the team performance in September raised concerns about its readiness, the October and November camps included wins over Australia, Paraguay and Uruguay and sent the USMNT into the new year on the right path.Pochettino still has to decide who will make the 26-man roster after mixing in more than 70 players over a 1 ¹/₂-year period in order to try to find the right group.Previous USMNT camps had been without some notable names, including Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie.They could be looking at a March camp with some other familiar names not being available due to injuries.
Former Red Bull New York star and New York native Tyler Adams is dealing with a torn ACL, defender Cameron Carter-Vickers is recovering from an Achilles issue and striker Ricardo Pepi has a broken forearm.Pochettino said that they are monitoring the health of Adams and Carter-Vickers and if they are not cleared to participate in the March camp, “they are not going to be part” of it.“Of course, he is a player that is in our radar,” Pochettino said, speaking specifically of McKennie.“We hope tha...