Poch: Support for Tillman shows U.S. 'connected'

ST. LOUIS - United States manager Mauricio Pochettino lauded the enslaved that is processing among the players and unit up of Wednesday's Gold Cup semifinal against Guatemala.

Pochettino was specifically asked astir however the squad stuck up for Malik Tillman aft helium missed a punishment successful the quarterfinal against Costa Rica, and was the taxable of immoderate trash speech from the Ticos afterward.

"That means a lot. It means that we are connected, that we attraction astir [our] teammates," said Pochettino astir the agreed beforehand the players person shown. "And that needs to beryllium natural, successful betwixt them and that is wherefore [they] merit the full [praise]; the experienced players, but besides the young players that perceive to the experienced players. That is an important thing."

Pochettino added, "We tin prime 26 players, but past to beryllium a squad is simply a antithetic thing. You tin person 26 players that play successful idiosyncratic mode and it's hard to person this benignant of behavior. That is due to the fact that they care, due to the fact that they made the effort, not lone connected the tract [but off] the tract to effort to care."

The erstwhile Chelsea and PSG manager noted that helium sees the camaraderie being formed adjacent astatine squad meals, wherever it feels similar they are each sitting astatine 1 table.

"That is what we want. That is however we feel, however we privation to correspond our country, and we privation to combat for our emblem and for our shirt," helium said.

The U.S. is expecting a hard lucifer against Los Chapines, who upset Canada successful the quarterfinals successful a punishment shootout. Guatemala's lineup includes guardant Rubio Rubín of the USL's Charleston Battery, who scored the equalizer against Canada, and D.C. United defender Aaron Herrera.

Rubin had antecedently represented the U.S. astatine elder level, and was U.S. Soccer's Young Male Athlete of the Year successful 2012 earlier switching to Guatemala successful 2022. Herrera played with USMNT midfielder Tyler Adams for the U.S. astatine the 2017 FIFA U20 World Cup.

"It's ever a small spot unusual evidently erstwhile you play with them successful the younker nationalist squad and past now, they're playing for Guatemala, and you're playing against them successful a Gold Cup, but it'll beryllium a truly unsocial experience," said Adams. "We cognize however beardown Guatemala is. There's a crushed that they're successful the semifinal, truthful we can't instrumentality that for granted the accidental to play them.

"And Rubio Rubin evidently was a precocious level subordinate coming up done the nationalist team, truthful a batch of players looked up to him increasing up and yeah, he's done truly good for himself truthful it'll beryllium breathtaking to play against him."

Pochettino said he'll determine connected Wednesday if midfielder Johnny Cardoso volition beryllium available. Cardoso missed the lucifer against Costa Rica with an ankle injury, and portion helium practiced with the squad for a information of Wednesday's grooming session, Pochettino said helium inactive feels immoderate discomfort.

"It's an uncomfortable situation, and we person 24 hours to measure and spot if [Cardoso] tin beryllium disposable to beryllium selected oregon not," the U.S. manager said.

The grooming league besides saw an unidentified drone that appeared to beryllium watching the practice, and had USMNT unit trying to fig retired wherever it came from. A U.S. Soccer spokesperson said that arsenic of Tuesday afternoon, the drone remained "unidentified" but that since it was contiguous lone during the unfastened information of practice, it was not a concern.

"If idiosyncratic wants immoderate clips we tin nonstop [some], it's not a problem," Pochettino joked. "It's not NASA. It's the men's nationalist team."