Türkiye test: USA plan rotation before World Cup knockouts | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Mauricio Pochettino lives his life in both English and Spanish, and sometimes you can almost see the gears in his brain whirring as he switches back and forth between the languages while speaking to the media.

The US men’s national team head coach handles the task admirably, and in those real-time mental translations, occasionally he coins a new phrase that actually works better than more familiar aphorisms might.

Such was the case during his press conference ahead of the Yanks’ group-stage finale vs. Türkiye on Thursday night at Los Angeles Stadium (10 pm ET | FOX, Telemundo, Peacock).

“I need to be sure that the team that is going to be here tomorrow wants to eat the grass here,” the Argentine boss said, “and play [as if it’s] for the final of the World Cup.”

Group D winners

Poch, you see, faces an odd situation, one rare in any tournament of this magnitude and completely unprecedented in the USMNT’s history.

Thanks to their confident wins over Paraguay and Australia – the first-ever back-to-back wins on this stage in program history – they’ve already clinched first place in Group D and a favorable spot in the knockout rounds, which they’ll kick off with a Round of 32 match in the San Francisco Bay area on July 1.

Conversely, Türkiye are already eliminated, thanks to FIFA’s new and somewhat controversial decision to switch from goal differential as the first standings tiebreaker to head-to-head results.

That makes Thursday the proverbial ‘dead rubber,’ a game with no real stakes for either side, save pride, global attention and, in the USMNT’s case, a desire to maintain momentum – and send a message to the world elite who may now have to consider the tournament co-hosts a force to be reckoned with.

“I mean, I don't make the rules,” said defender and Philadelphia Union academy product Mark McKenzie at Wednesday morning’s training. “We just go out there and handle business. We've had two strong performances so far, but that's not going to change our mentality or pull us back from doing what we want to do, and that's winning another game. We want to win this whole thing. We came into this tournament with that mentality, and not trying to stop short of that goal.

“Türkiye will be a different opponent, a challenging opponent, who will also want to win the game.”

New faces

Winning is a habit, as the old sports cliché goes, and for these Yanks, it’s been a vital facet to their efforts to charm the nation and build support as they embark on what they hope is a long, thrilling tourney run.

“When you win your last game, you go into the next one with that little bit of extra, I don't know, just a good feeling,” said star attacker Christian Pulisic, who has recovered from a leg injury that sidelined him for Friday’s victory over Australia in Seattle, and who Pochettino confirmed will be available for selection. 

“That winning-mentality feeling, it just sticks with you. So you want it, you want it for sure. Going into the knockout rounds, we'll definitely feel better with a win.”

That said, Poch made clear that he won’t be taking any needless risks with his four players carrying yellow cards, who would be suspended for the next US match should they appear against Türkiye and receive another caution: Tyler Adams, Folarin Balogun, Chris Richards and Antonee ‘Jedi’ Robinson.

Hence, that aforementioned bit about eating grass: He wants full commitment from everyone who takes the pitch.

“It’s an easy answer for the guys that have yellow cards: I think it's unnecessary to take a risk and then to take another yellow card and be not available for the next stage,” said Pochettino, who went on to point out how many of his other starters have logged heavy minutes over their club seasons and/or intense physical output in those first two games, and are thus candidates for rotation.

“We have a lot of circumstances that we earn, because we earn through our results and our performance, the possibility to manage better and arrive in a better condition in the next stage. and then to be sure that we are going to be with a team fresh and competitive.”

Keeping momentum

One player who Pochettino sounds eager to get into the action: Seattle Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan, a key figure in group dynamics who didn’t appear in the first two games, and picked up a quadriceps issue in a Saturday training session that limited his involvement in the Yanks’ subsequent workouts.

“We need to assess tomorrow if he can be available, a small issue in his quad, but I think he's evolving pretty well. If it is not for tomorrow, hope for the next week,” explained Poch of Roldan, whose off-field contributions, he said, are just as important as those who’ve made big plays thus far.

“Cristian Roldan is here because of his quality and talent, because our assessment is on the field,” he added. “But then, in the same way, he is important outside – is a great teammate, he is a player that always wants the best for the team, for the teammates, for the federation, for soccer, for everything.”

The bottom line: This squad has developed a taste for victories, and they don’t plan to let up.

“We just want to go into the next round with nine points,” said Richards. “I feel like the rules are always changing, so I'm kind of confused myself. But as long as we keep winning, that's the number-one thing.”

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