Poch: USMNT can’t be complacent after WC draw

WASHINGTON, D.C. — United States men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino said his objective over the next six months is to continue to improve the squad and “show full respect” for its World Cup group stage opponents.

Those opponents came more into focus Friday, when the draw was held for next summer’s World Cup. The U.S. is in Group D, along with Australia, Paraguay and the winner of a playoff involving Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia and Türkiye.

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Türkiye, which is 25th in the latest round of FIFA’s rankings, is the favorite to advance. And although the U.S. defeated Australia and Paraguay in recent friendlies, Pochettino noted there is still plenty of work left.

Pochettino stressed that nothing can be taken for granted as he has tried to create a competitive environment where no one’s job is safe.

“I think in the next six months, we need to update everything,” Pochettino said in the postdraw mixed zone. “We know them, but they know us. The most important [thing] is the evolution, and keep improving, in all the areas, for us, like a team. To be sure that in our [play] I think we will be stronger than today.

“That, for me, is the objective, [be] better and show full respect to Paraguay and Australia and the fourth [team] that we are going to find out about in March. Yeah, I’m looking forward. I am optimistic. Before, after I think looking forward, the World Cup, the most exciting moment for us is to arrive in our best condition.”

When asked if he was happy with the draw, Pochettino insisted it wasn’t a case of being happy or not happy.

“Always when you walk in the door, you wait and see what’s going on, [see] what happened, be optimistic and really trust your qualities and our players, in our capacity to compete.”

The USMNT likely has the advantage in many rematches because of how the team has experimented with different systems in the past several months.

“The flexibility we start to see because I think, always, you need time, take time to play a role, to adapt to different system and the way that you want to play,” Pochettino said. “We tried from the beginning but doesn’t happen [quickly] because that is normal, the process.

“But I think yes, I think we are so happy in the way that we are evolving like a team, growing in the areas, not only in the aggressivity, the way that we compete [and] in a tactical perspective. The thing is more now within knowledge about what we need to do, and I think we’re keeping improving. That is the idea.”

The USMNT’s opening game of Group D will be against Paraguay on June 12 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

“There’s no easy game in a World Cup,” USMNT and Bournemouth midfielder Tyler Adams said Friday.

“I think that for ourselves, no matter who we drew in the group, we were going to have that belief that we could make a run and do something special. Just having the draw in general, now the excitement grows, and it makes it feel more real.”

“We can go into the World Cup with a good feeling,” USMNT captain Christian Pulisic said hours after the draw. “We’ve been playing together for so long, since youth soccer, and I mean, being able to play a World Cup in our home country, you can’t ask for anything better. It’s what we dreamed of as kids, just to have this opportunity.”