Mauricio Pochettino and the US soccer team felt like they needed a win, even in a friendly nine months ahead of the FIFA World Cup against opponents sending out a second-string side.
Criticism had become a constant, with former US player Alexi Lalas calling for Pochettino’s firing.
“Super important for us,” star Christian Pulisic said after assisting on the second goal as the 15th-ranked US beat No. 17 Japan 2-0 on Tuesday. “It’s been a tough go recently and we wanted to walk away with some confidence, with a good feeling going into the next camps, obviously leading into a World Cup year.”
Photo: AP
Alejandro Zendejas scored in the 30th minute and Folarin Balogun added a goal in the 64th minute against a Japan team missing all 11 starters from their clinching win in World Cup qualifying.
After three straight matches in St Louis, Missouri; Houston, Texas; and Harrison, New Jersey, at which fans overwhelming supported the visitors, the US drew a pro-US sellout crowd of 20,192 to Lower.com Field.
The US are 11-7 under Pochettino, who replaced Gregg Berhalter following first-round elimination in last year’s Copa America. The US lost in the CONCACAF Nations League semi-finals and in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final, and extended their winless streak against top-25 teams to seven games with a 2-0 loss last weekend to South Korea.
Photo: AFP
Pochettino, hired as US coach on Sept. 10 last year, had become defensive of late, saying people should take a long-term view and accept that because his team has an automatic berth as cohosts, wins do not matter until their World Cup opener on June 12 next year.
“I prefer that the people criticize me, but don’t touch the players,” he said.
A day earlier, he addressed those who faulted his decisionmaking, responding to a question about Chris Richards’ use last weekend by saying “people sometimes create debate and think — talk with no sense.”
Photo: EPA
He added a profanity twice to describe the fault-finding.
Under intense media examination when he coached Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, Pochettino said that his wife told him not to get so perturbed by American media, which pay far less attention to soccer than in Europe.
“Yesterday my wife said: ‘Oh, why you were like this in the press conference? These guys are so nice. When you were in France or in England, they were very — but they are the nice guys,’” he said. “I said: ‘Yeah, but it wasn’t for them. I said it was some people,’ but not professional, like you,” he told reporters. “But, OK, keep moving because I’m so happy to be here. I’m so happy to be the coach in this country.”
Still, he defended his opinion of the criticism.
“Maybe yesterday I say one word that I don’t want to repeat, but it was the truth,” he said.
There were World Cup qualifying games in four regions on Tuesday.
In the UEFA region, France beat Iceland 2-1 and Ukraine drew with Azerbaijan 1-1 in Group D; Portugal beat Hungary 3-2 and Armenia beat Ireland 2-1 in Group F; Austria beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-1, and Cyprus and Romania drew 2-2 in Group H; Norway beat Moldova 11-1 in Group I; while England beat Serbia 5-0 and Albania beat Latvia 1-0 in Group K.
In the CONCACAF region, Jamaica beat Trinidad and Tobago 2-0, and Curacao beat Bermuda 3-2 in Group B; while Honduras beat Nicaragua 2-0 and Costa Rica drew with Haiti 3-3 in Group C.
In first-round matches in the CONMEBOL region, Bolivia beat Brazil 1-0, Ecuador beat Argentina 1-0, Colombia beat Venezuela 6-3, Uruguay drew with Chile 0-0 and Paraguay beat Peru 1-0.
In the CAF region, Sierra Leone beat Ethiopia 2-0 and Burkina Faso drew with Egypt 0-0 in Group A; Senegal beat the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2-3, Togo beat Sudan 1-0 and Mauritania drew with South Sudan 0-0 in Group B; Rwanda beat Zimbabwe 1-0, South Africa drew with Nigeria 1-1 and Benin beat Lesotho 4-0 in Group C; Cape Verde beat Cameroon 1-0 and Angola beat Mauritius 3-1 in Group D; Niger beat Tanzania 1-0 in Group E; Kenya beat Seychelles 5-0, Gabon drew with Ivory Coast 0-0 and Gambia beat Burundi 2-0 in Group F; while Namibia beat Sao Tome and Principe 3-0 in Group H.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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