It has been some time since the USA men’s national team entered a game without a preview of what they would look like, but that is where the USMNT finds itself ahead of a game against Panama under Mauricio Pochettino. Rumors swirled after Gregg Berhalter was fired over the summer. The hire was finally made official in September and many US fans rejoiced.
Pochettino’s resume is an impressive one, but he faces some stern tasks with the USMNT. The World Cup on home soil is less than two years away and the US has very few competitive games in that time. Furthermore, the morale of the fan base is quite low at the moment. That is understandable, given how wrong things went at the Copa America this year. It is incredibly important for Pochettino to get off to a good start with these two friendlies against Panama and Mexico.
With this being Mauricio Pochettino’s first game with the US, there was speculation about what the roster would look like. Would he call most of the same players or would there be a huge roster turnover? The answer, so far, appears to be the former.
In goal, the US will have usual suspects Matt Turner and Ethan Horvath. But there does appear to be competition as Pochettino has also recalled Zack Steffen and Patrick Schulte. The back line is mostly familiar names too. Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson, Miles Robinson, Joe Scally, and Mark McKenzie all have 14 or more international appearances.
In the midfield, the team has Weston McKennie, Brenden Aaronson, Yunus Musah, and Malik Tillman. Pochettino also called up a pair of players in Gianluca Busio and Tanner Tessmann fresh off a knockout round appearance at the Olympics in Paris. And up top, the headliner is Christian Pulisic in addition to Ricardo Pepi, Josh Sargent and Haji Wright.
Injuries played their part in reshaping the roster after it was originally announced. Brandon Vazquez and Alejandro Zendejas were both late additions following injuries by Folarin Balogun and Tim Weah.
One of the most immediate problems in Mauricio Pochettino’s first game is the morale of both the US players and the US fans. Copa America was a disaster, but that doesn’t tell the full story.
The US form has been dreadful for almost a year. The US is winless in four straight games, and six of their last seven. They have won just three games all year. Dating back to November 20, 2023, the USMNT has won three times in eleven outings and one of those wins was an extra-time game against Jamaica in the Nations League semi-finals. All but one of those eleven games was on home soil.
The good news is that Pochettino has already started trying to get the morale back up. He has spoken repeatedly about the US’ need to believe they can compete at the highest level and perform well at a home World Cup. And there is no better opponent to begin to restore that belief than a Panama team that has dominated the US lately.
The US may have been a disaster at the Copa America, but Los Canaleros were not. Not only did they beat the US, but they finished second in the group and made it to the knockout rounds. In the quarterfinals, they were ultimately over-matched, losing 5-0 to Colombia. Surprisingly, they haven’t played since.
The roster for this game features all their biggest and best players. Of the 23 players called in by Thomas Christiansen, eleven of them have 30 or more caps. Three of the Panamanian players are based in the US. The first two are midfielders Anibal Godoy of Nashville FC and Adalberto Carrasquilla of the Houston Dynamo. The third is uncapped goalkeeper John Gunn of the New England Revolution II team, who last year, was playing college soccer at the University of Memphis.
Despite struggling against the Americans for years, Panama now finally seems to have the US’ number. Until 2021, Panama had only beaten the US one time (at the 2011 Gold Cup). Now, the Panamanians have won three of the last four against the US in just three years. They won a World Cup Qualifier in Panama City in 2021, they eliminated the US on penalties in the 2023 Gold Cup semi-finals, and then of course beat them at the Copa America in Atlanta earlier this year.
Saturday’s game against Panama kicks off at 9 p.m. ET. Coverage in the United States is available on TNT for English-language audiences and Telemundo for Spanish. Q2 Stadium in Austin, TX, is hosting the game. Austin has been a frequent stop for the USMNT. The Panama game is the fifth time the United States has played at the venue since July 2021.
PHOTOS: IMAGO
