After losing four straight pre-Gold Cup games, USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino hailed players "willing to fight and die for you"
As players left the field at PayPal Stadium, they walked over a small bridge that take them just over the exiting fans. Moments after smashing Trinidad and Tobago, 5-0 in their 2025 Gold Cup opener Sunday night, the U.S. men's national team's players found themselves on that walkway, serenaded by those below. Cheers broke out as the players were applauded off the field after a job well done.
How things can change in just a matter of days.
In Nashville, Mauricio Pochettino's USMNT were booed off the pitch in the midst of a 4-0 humbling at the hands of Switzerland last Tuesday night. And then came Sunday, a day in which, over the course of 90 minutes, this U.S. team reclaimed some of the goodwill that has been missing of late.
A win against the No. 100-ranked team in the world won't fix everything, not by any stretch. But turning those boos into cheers will have made this day a success.
It's a start. The Gold Cup run is long – or at least the USMNT hope this run will be long. T&T will wind up being one of the weakest teams in the schedule and it showed in their performance. The U.S. cruised from whistle to whistle, taking a 3-0 first-half lead and never really taking their foot off the brakes as they ran up the score.
That won't impress everyone, and critics still find plenty of reason to complain. Not this game, though. On Sunday, the U.S. took a step forward after taking so many steps back and – and the cheers came with it.
"We kind of set a standard now, so we know we have to continue to keep winning these types of games," said defender Chris Richards. "We know every game isn't going to be easy. Every game is going to be as tough, but if we can continue to win, I think that's how you shut people up: winning."
GOAL breaks down the winners and losers from PayPal Park
Getty ImagesWINNER: Malik Tillman
It almost beyond belief, given all of the scoring we've seen him do on the club level. But Sunday's first-half finish was Tillman first career goal with the USMNT. It took him 20 games to get it, and then it took him just 25 minutes to get his second.
This was exactly what was needed, both personally and as a group. Mired in a four-game losing streak, the USMNT needed someone to set the tone early, removing doubts before they could creep in. That someone, as it turns out, was Tillman, who ran the show and got his goals to headline a near-perfect first half.
Neither was particularly difficult. Both came from close range and both benefited from fantastic assists. Tillman, though, finally got one – actually, two. The hope now is that things can snowball. Tillman has been a player who hasn't always been able to bring his club form to the USMNT. That changed on Sunday.
"I had a good season with PSV, so obviously my confidence is quite high, but I got the opportunity today to show myself," he said. "In my time here, I didn't have a lot of starts so, for today, it was up for me to show myself, and I think I did quite well.
"This is the last opportunity for us to show ourselves in a tournament. So yes, it's about taking responsibility and showing the world what we can do."
The hope is that Tillman finds more confidence. Considering his response to his first goal, this might just be the start of something from a player the USMNT will need both this summer and next.
"I understand him better now than I did the first time," Pochettino said. "In October, November, when we first met him, it was difficult to create the relationship that a player and coach need to trust each other. I see now, after a few weeks together, that I understand him. He's very special, a very special talent and a very special kid. We, as a coaching staff, are all in love with him.
"We need time to create that link that can provide players with the ability to perform, to fight for you and to die for you – and the same for a coach. That trust, knowing that a player is willing to fight and die for you, that is why we are so happy. Because he is a talented player, one of the most talented that we have here in the USA."
AdvertisementGetty Images SportWINNER: Diego Luna
In the course of 10 seconds or so, Luna showed everything that he's about. It came from nothing, an innocuous backpass, but Luna ran and ran. The pass was underhit, the T&T defender was unaware and Luna was on the move, intercepting the ball and getting through on goal.
Many inexperienced players would have simply blasted a shot, but not Luna. He looked and waited, feeding Tillman for the game's second goal. It was a sequence that personified everything Pochettino values: effort, energy, vision and, just as importantly, a total absence of selfishness.
"I made the run through to the keeper because he looked down and didn't see me," Luna said of the sequence. "Then, as soon as I saw he was winding up, I knew he was going to play it. I got a hold of it and then got a little sweaty to set up the tap-in."
Luna nearly got his reward moments later, but was credited with another assist. After breaking into space again, his shot nicked Patrick Agyemang on its way into the back of the net, giving the Charlotte FC striker the goal. It was all Luna, though, another moment of brilliance from a player that continues to blend talent and effort better than anyone else on this USMNT.
"I don't care about getting the goal," he said. "Whoever's goal it was, I don't care because it's a team goal."
Every game, Luna seemingly improves. This was far and away his best game yet, and it's one that only increased optimism about what he can ultimately become.
Getty Images SportLOSER: Alvin Jones
Few players have had the impact on American soccer that Alvin Jones has and, from a USMNT perspective, it surely isn't for the better. It was Jones who hit that long-distance screamer to open the scoring in October 2017 in Couva. It was Jones who set up the own goal. It was Jones who, in many ways, ended the USMNT's 2018 World Cup dream, kickstarting this wild butterfly effect that led us to today.
There was no legendary moment for the Soca Warriors star on Sunday, though. Only heartbreak.
It was Jones' backpass that was intercepted by Luna, leading to the USMNT's second goal. Afterwards, all he could do was sit there with his head in his hands, knowing he'd just made a crucial mistake.
Jones' best moment came against the U.S. nearly eight years ago. On Sunday, he had one of his worst performances in the course of a 5-0 trouncing.
Getty ImagesWINNER: The supersubs
Both Haji Wright and Brenden Aaronson are guys that find themselves on the fringes. They're World Cup veterans, guys with plenty of experience but, just one year out from the 2026 tournament, neither are locks to be there next summer. Goals help, don't they? Both scored almost immediately after coming on in the second half, and both will have made their case for more minutes this summer.
We'll start with Aaronson, who is one of the players with a point to prove this summer. Left off the Nations League squad in March, Aaronson had already been sent a harsh message by Pochettino – his spot wasn't secure. His performance against Switzerland wouldn't have helped, although few really benefitted from that game.
This goal, though, could be a way to turn the corner for a player that needs to string these types of attacking moments together. Same for Wright, a player who, like Aaronson, offers so much attacking versatility. On Sunday, he offered a glimpse into something else he offers: decisiveness. His goal was relatively simple, with Wright cutting in and picking his spot to make it 5-0.
On a day in which the U.S. could have easily seen out the game, Aaronson and Wright made sure to take things one step further – exactly what Pochettino will want to see.
"I expect to win and the players really believe that they have this opportunity, and can take this opportunity to show me why they should fight for a place in the World Cup," Pochettino said. "That, for me, is the most important thing for everyone that was on the pitch, and everyone that came from the bench."
