The U.S. leaves the group stage with eight goals, the most produced by the men’s national team at any single World Cup. It opened Thursday with a goal by Auston Trusty within two minutes — before conceding two goals before halftime. Players and Pochettino insisted after the match that the team’s momentum from its first two wins hadn’t been slowed.
“I’m not worried whatsoever,” Aaronson said.
The same lineup that played Thursday, particularly defensively, won’t be the same that faces Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“We let some moments get away from us but the performances overall were good,” Berhalter said.
Pochettino seemed puzzled by the downcast tone of his post-match press conference.
“I’m happy,” Pochettino said. “Maybe I’m not showing because your questions are a little bit weird. I’m confused, maybe the vibes is like we go home tonight and Turkey stays (in the tournament), no?”
The U.S. has reached the knockout round in three of its last four World Cups, with two exits in the round of 16, and a 2002 run to the quarterfinals that remains the national team’s best performance since finishing third in the first World Cup in 1930.
Should the U.S. beat Bosnia and Herzegovina, it could set up a run where the U.S. wouldn’t need to leave the same time zone for more than a month. The round of 16 would be in Seattle on July 6, and the quarterfinal would be in Los Angeles four days later.
“We were born to play in these moments and you know that’s all you can do is you can’t let the pressure in the situation get to you,” Aaronson said.
“There’s going to be pressure, that’s football. Especially when you’re at the World Cup. But we’re really ready to go, and you know we’re going to take this Bosnia game and do the best we can, and we’re going to be really prepared.”
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