United States coach Mauricio Pochettino expressed that the team learned priceless lessons from their painful 2-1 loss to Mexico in the Gold Cup final. The Americans initially led with a goal from Chris Richards but succumbed to two goals from Raúl Jiménez and Edson Álvarez. Pochettino voiced frustration over a missed penalty call against Mexico and emphasized the need for fan support ahead of the World Cup co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. He underlined the importance of fans in soccer and encouraged them to support the team moving forward.
"It's a massive lesson for us, I think it's priceless. 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 really, really painful. But the most important thing is to have our heads up."
"The truth was that if that happened in the opposite half, in the other box, for sure it's a penalty. The player was with a knee on the floor, he pushed the hand over the ball. It's not that the hand was [already] on the floor, and the ball touched. For me, it was embarrassing to see that situation and it's a shame."
"I think we need the people. We need the fans. The fans have one year to realize how important are the fans in soccer. How important are the fans to be in the stadium, to stay with the team."
"It's a massive lesson for us, I think it's priceless, because we learned a lot in this tournament, and although it's painful, we need to keep our heads up and move forward."
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