‘Homie Palmed the Ball Like Shaq’—USMNT Rage Against Controversial Gold Cup Final Defeat | OneFootball

As the U.S. men’s national team left the pitch and retreated to their locker room after the Concacaf Gold Cup final, they couldn’t stop thinking about the situations that led to their demise.

The lessons from the summer and the moments from the final will circulate in the heads of the players and head coach Mauricio Pochettino for months, in a constant cycle of frustration and dreaming of what could have been.

Despite getting out to an early lead against Mexico, the USMNT fell 2–1 in front of over 72,000 fans in Houston on Sunday, dropping their final competitive game ahead of next year’s FIFA World Cup and missing a golden opportunity to change the narrative around the team.

Frustration was the theme post-match, especially when it came to the non-called handball in the penalty area by Mexico’s Jorge Sanchez in the 67th minute. While the interpretation of the rule allowed Sanchez to fall on the ball as he did, that didn’t matter to Pochettino or the players.

“The thing about Concacaf is that I feel like we’re always one step behind with the refereeing,” goalscorer and center back Chris Richards told Yahoo Sports after the match. “Homie palmed the ball like Shaq in the box.”

A fiery Pochettino added: “I’m not going to cry. I wanted to tell the truth, and the truth was that if that happened in the opposite box, for sure it’s a penalty.”

Meanwhile, Richards also criticized the linesman’s call on a 77th-minute free kick which led to Edson Alvarez’s winning goal, where a Mexican defender appeared to be standing in an offside position. “In any other league, it would've been called offsides,” he huffed. “But again, that’s Concacaf for you. They hate us.”

While the USMNT brought an evident passion to the tournament and the final, unlike anything that the team has seen in years, it simply wasn’t enough to make a difference against Mexico. The drive and grit were there, but the quality and coaching flexibility simply weren’t up to El Tri’s standard, leaving them grasping at excuses.

“My players don’t deserve this,” Pochettino added. “If we lose, we lose. No problem. I am the first to say we need to improve. I am not crying. I am not saying [anything] against Mexico. I respect Mexico, full respect, and I have congratulated them from the beginning.

“I only say that if that happened again, would the coach or the players be talking the same way? For me, it will be a fire in the stadium. But for us, it’s like, ‘okay, they’re nice guys.’ You know? ‘They’re nice guys. It’s not a problem.”

Gold Cup Success Could be a Mirage

Mauricio Pochettino was remarkably candid when he spoke to reporters after the Gold Cup final. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Despite the close loss, the moments and takeaways from the over 40 days the USMNT spent together paint a much gloomier picture. Yes, they picked up five wins in five games, but that success could be nothing more than a mirage.

The team entered the tournament on the back of disparaging friendly losses against Switzerland and Turkey, and only brought those issues into the Gold Cup. They beat No. 100 Trinidad and Tobago, No. 83 Haiti, No. 58 Saudi Arabia and No. 106 Guatemala, but needed penalties to get past No. 54 Costa Rica, before falling to No. 17 Mexico.

There were some bright moments, like Sebastian Berhalter’s growth, Matt Freese’s goalkeeping or Diego Luna’s standout moments against Guatemala in the semifinal, yet none of the players stood out on the final day.

And instead of addressing the issues, Pochettino deftly turned the focus to the officiating rather than the tactical and personnel problems that had led his side to their fifth straight loss against a top-30 ranked team.

Challenges of Bringing Back Stars

Diego Luna was a bright spot for the USMNT at this summer's Gold Cup. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Now, though, Pochettino faces a much bigger challenge: maintaining the reignited passion within the team while integrating some of the top-end talents, like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tim Weah, among others, who weren’t available for the tournament but could be for upcoming friendlies in September against South Korea and Japan.

“Every American player has the opportunity to be on the roster. It’s up to us now to analyze,” Pochettino said. “All the names are under scrutiny, and we are following them for sure. All players have the possibility of being selected one year out from the World Cup, but we need to build a roster for September, and we will assess the circumstances, situations, performance, and fitness level. Don’t worry.”

The Gold Cup didn’t end the way the USMNT had hoped, and the success likely doesn’t mean as much as it initially seemed. Yet, the project enters its next phase now, looking to pull things together for September and beyond, with all eyes fixating on June 12, 2026, when they open the World Cup in Los Angeles.

“It’s a massive lesson for us, I think it’s priceless,” Pochettino said. “I think it was an amazing tournament to realize in the way that we wanted to grow ... [but it’s also] a night that is a very, very painful night, because when you lose a trophy, or you lose a game, it’s painful.

“But the most important thing is to have our heads up.”