ST. LOUIS — Mauricio Pochettino, who has been on the job as coach of the U.S. men’s soccer team for less than a year, got a feel for what the Americans face at times during home games: a crowd rooting for the opposition.
“It was like to play in Guatemala,” Pochettino said after his team got two early goals from Diego Luna, then held on for a 2-1 win Wednesday night against Guatemala to reach the CONCACAF Gold Cup final. “That was good for our players because it was an atmosphere that we didn’t expect.”
The U.S. will play Mexico on Sunday night in Houston. It will be last competitive match for the Americans — who now have seven wins, four losses and no ties in 2025 — before next summer’s World Cup, which they will co-host with Canada and Mexico.
Mexico owns nine Gold Cup titles, the U.S. seven and Canada one. The 16th-ranked Americans advanced to the Gold Cup final for the 13th time. All five losses in finals have been to Mexico.
No. 106 Guatemala, which has never reached the final, outshot the U.S. 13-1 in the last 30 minutes of the first half. Wednesday’s sellout crowd of 22,423 at Energizer Park energized Los Chapines, who outshot the U.S. 20-12 overall and got an 80th-minute goal from Olger Escobar.