ATLANTA — Now comes the wait.
Potential players for the U.S. men’s soccer team at this summer’s World Cup will count down the eight weeks until coach Mauricio Pochettino picks the 26 who have made it.
Those bypassed won’t get a phone call.
“It’s going to be painful,” Pochettino said. “In that process, always you create links, no, emotional links, but it’s going to be difficult to pick 26 from 35, 40 players.”
Twenty-four players were used during the 5-2 loss to Belgium and 2-0 defeat to Portugal in the last two exhibition matches before Pochettino announces his roster on May 26 at an event in New York. A total of 38 players have appeared in the past eight matches dating to September.