The victory at the Inter & Co Stadium in Orlando was secured by goals from Major League Soccer players Brian White, Caden Clark, and Patrick Agyemang, showcasing a strong performance from Pochettino’s squad.
This match was the second of two consecutive friendlies for the US, following their 3-1 triumph over Venezuela on Saturday. Given that these matches occurred outside the official FIFA international window, Pochettino took the opportunity to evaluate the US talent pool, as many of his Europe-based players were unavailable.
White opened the scoring in the 21st minute, capitalizing on a well-placed through ball from Diego Luna and delivering a low shot into the bottom corner. Clark added the second goal in the 77th minute, and Agyemang sealed the win with a powerful strike in the 90th minute.
Pochettino expressed his contentment with the performance of his makeshift squad across both matches.
“When I watch after 90 minutes, it’s not like we’ve had one or two weeks working together — it looks like we are working for six months,” Pochettino told broadcaster TNT after the win.
“That is what pleased me the most, because the performance, the attitude, the capacity to adapt to the new ideas, that is amazing,” the Argentine added.
Pochettino is now focusing on the upcoming CONCACAF Nations League climax in Los Angeles this March, where his team will compete against Panama in the semi-finals.
The former coach of Tottenham, Chelsea, and Paris Saint-Germain suggested that some players who participated in the January friendlies may have positioned themselves as strong candidates for the Nations League finals.
“I think we now have too many players in our mind,” he joked. “When we need to pick the squad in March for sure in our mind are going to be many players that work here.
“I told them from the from the beginning that they need to take these two games very seriously, because if they perform, they will have the possibility to show us in the future.”