INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The United States men’s national team capped its miserable week at the Concacaf Nations League Finals with a 2-1 loss to Canada in Sunday’s third-place playoff.
The Canadians opened the scoring through Tani Oluwaseyi, and while Patrick Agyemang equalized for the USMNT before the first half was finished, Reds star forward Jonathan David scored the winner with just over a half hour left to play.
The loss comes on the heels of last week’s late 1-0 loss to Panama in the semifinals. “It’s not just a given that we can step onto the pitch and perform at a certain level,” U.S. keeper Matt Turner said after Sunday’s contest. “End of the day, we’re conceding too many goals and not scoring enough.
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What we had to do was clear and and we weren’t able to execute it consistently over 90 minutes in both games,” he added. “Critical errors, critical mistakes, guys not taking ownership in big moments.”
Here are three quick thoughts on the match, which represented the final test for Mauricio Pochettino’s full-strength team in tournament play before next year’s U.S. co-hosted FIFA World Cup.
Play of the game
The U.S. turned in an improved performance from Thursday, bu it wasn’t nearly enough. Still, at least they scored in this game. It was a beautiful team goal, too. Tim Weah started the sequence when he slipped Diego Luna in behind the Canadian back line. Rather than rush a shot or pass, the Real Salt Lake playmaker cut the ball back and squared it to Agyemang, who was able to beat visiting keeper Dayne St. Clair to temporarily pull the Americans level:
“I knew that the center back was going to come and I had a little flick and just dropped it off for Patrick,” said Luna, who has surely put himself in position to be summoned for this summer’s Gold Cup squad.
“He performed well,” Pochettino said.
Turning point
Pretty as the U.S. goal was, the Americans’ defensive performance left a lot to be desired. It cost them. Canada out-shot the hosts 4-1 in the first half, including Oluwaseyi’s successful strike that put Canada ahead. In the end, the USMNT was left chasing the game for 39 of the 90 minutes.
Key stat
The U.S. has now lost back-to-back home games to Canada for the first time since the two countries began playing each other in 1925.
What’s next for the USMNT?
The Americans will return to their clubs in Europe and MLS immediately, and while Pochettino won’t have access to all of them for the Concacaf Gold Cup in June and (if they make at least the semifinals) July, most of the players who were in Los Angeles over the last week figure to also be on that roster.
The absence of Weston McKennie and Tim Weah, who are slated to participate with Juventus in the FIFA Club World Cup instead, and possibly Borussia Dortmund’s Gio Reyna, will open the door for a few new faces. So will the disappointing results and performances this month.
“Of course we are open to [changing] the roster,” Pochettino said.
The USMNT will learn its group stage schedule and opponents at the Gold Cup draw on April 10. They’ll then play a pair of tuneups, against Turkey on June 7 in East Hartford, Connecticut and Switzerland three days later in Nashville, Tennessee.
What’s next for Canada?
The Reds, one of the favorites to win the Gold Cup along with the U.S. and Mexico, will prepare for this summer’s tournament with friendlies on those same dates versus Ukraine and Ivory Coast. Both of those exhibitions will be played in Toronto.
“It’s a big part of the process with us not being in [World Cup] qualifying,” St. Clair said. “For us, it’s just taking every moment that we’re together to make sure that come 2026, that we’re ready.”
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports who has covered the United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him at @ByDougMcIntyre.
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