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 that he can be fit. And I think we have time to assess. And of course, we are going to make the best decision for him and for us.”
While the March camp will be important for the national team program, Pochettino acknowledged that they do “have a very good idea” of what players they want wearing the stars and stripes when the World Cup kicks off in June.
“When we talk about the World Cup, it’s about [building] a team that wants to perform without egos,” he said. “To perform for the badge, not for the name on the back. … Always prioritize the team, the group and that is more important than to only see the talent of the player. You can have an amazing, talented player, but if he doesn’t want to play for the team … it’s only a player that doesn’t add real quality.”
While excitement builds for the tournament, concerns around World Cup ticket prices have grabbed hold of the headlines recently.
USMNT winger Tim Weah became the most recent person to criticize the exorbitant prices for World Cup matches, but asked about it Thursday, Pochettino seemed to admonish Weah for talking about it.
“We are not politicians. We are sport people that only we can talk about our job,” he said. “And I think if FIFA does something or takes some decision, they know why, and it is their responsibility to explain why. But it’s not up to us to provide our opinion.”