The USA’s first game since its World Cup ended in Seattle on a sour note took place 2,550 miles to the southeast in Central Florida. In Orlando, the first game of Coach Mauricio Pochettino’s second cycle in charge ended in celebration — of a 4-1 win and the promising American teenagers who shone in their debuts.
Mike Woitalla
Soccer America Executive Editor Mike Woitalla has written freelance articles about soccer for more than 30 media outlets in nine nations. The winner of eight United Soccer Coaches Writing Contest awards, he is the author of two books. He coaches and referees youth soccer, and is a "Soccer Without Borders" volunteer.
Posted inSoccer America Confidential
Pochettino looks back on Balogun red card, ahead to fresh start with young squad
On Friday, ahead of the USMNT’s first game of its second cycle under Mauricio Pochettino, the Argentine coach revisited the Folarin Balogun red-card controversy at this summer’s World Cup. “In the moment I didn’t understand the criticisms well, but now with time, I can see that you have to learn from mistakes and I think […]
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Pochettino, Cherundolo begin USMNT-Olympic collaboration
USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino, who resides in London, and Germany-based U.S. Olympic team coach Steve Cherundolo began their collaboration this week at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Fayetteville, Georgia, ahead of Saturday’s USMNT friendly against Peru in Orlando. Twelve of the 28 players Pochettino called in for his first post-2026 World Cup games are eligible for the 2028 Olympic tournament, an under-23 competition.
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USMNT heads into four games with unproven forwards
The USMNT’s four-game “camp of opportunity” is especially significant for the forwards. Four of Mauricio Pochettino’s frontline picks are uncapped and age 20 or younger. The fifth, Damion Downs, hasn’t scored in his previous USMNT call-ups and last found the net in club play in April 2025.
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Women’s Soccer: Spain and North Korea advance to U-20 Women’s World Cup final
In the semifinals, Spain posted a 2-0 win over Italy, which beat the USA in its opening group-stage game, and North Korea prevailed, 3-0, over Colombia. Italy had not won a U-20 World Cup game before qualifying for this year’s competition in Poland. For highlights of the semifinals …
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Bob Barry (1940-2026): ‘The Cat’ who built Hawaii soccer’s bridge to the mainland
I knew at the time that we were lucky to have Bob Barry as a high school soccer coach. Just how incredibly fortunate we actually were — that appreciation grew over years and decades since we played for Iolani in Honolulu in 1979-1982. Barry was also the French teacher at Iolani. At lunchtime, we’d hang […]
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Who’s the USMNT goalkeeper of the future?
At the 2026 World Cup, Mauricio Pochettino picked Matt Freese as his No. 1 goalkeeper but threw Matt Turner a bone with a start in the final group game, a 3-2 loss to Türkiye. That denied World Cup debutant Freese extra big-game experience, and the NYCFC man blundered in the 4-1 round-of-16 loss to Belgium. For the current camp, Pochettino called in Freese, Chris Brady (the No. 3 at the World Cup), Diego Kochen and Brian Schwake — and has four friendlies to test them.
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Peru arrives in Florida in deep rut ahead of USA friendly
Peru won two of its 18 games while finishing second-to-last in South American 2026 World Cup qualifying. Its 2024 Copa America performance was its worst in three decades. Its roster for Saturday’s game against the USA, followed by friendlies against Mexico, Canada and Colombia, features no players in the major European leagues. For the Bicolor’s U.S. tour roster …
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What They’re Saying: Sebastian Berhalter
“It feels almost like a fake European experience because you’re hanging out with your boys every day. You have Aiden [Morris], who’s pretty much a crash course of the whole city, knows where to go, and maybe where not to go. But yeah, it’s fun. We’re enjoying it and we have a good team, so we have a clear goal to be promoted by the end of the year, but it’s good. It’s fun and we want to keep going.”
— Upon joining his first USMNT team camp since moving from the Vancouver Whitecaps to Middlesbrough of the English Championship League, Sebastian Berhalter describes life at the club whose squad includes Florida native Aiden Morris, Californian Max Arfsten and Oklahoma native Rokas Pukštas. For more from Monday’s press conference at the Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Fayette County, Georgia, with Berhalter …
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U.S. SOCCER: Bert Mandelbaum named Chief Medical Officer
The federation’s new Chief Medical Officer, Bert Mandelbaum, M.D., has worked with U.S. Soccer since 1989. The Cedars-Sinai Orthopedic Surgeon, who pioneered ACL injury research and ACL injury prevention methods, served as U.S. Soccer’s interim chief medical officer during the 2026 World Cup.
George Chiampas was U.S. Soccer’s Chief Medical Officer from 2014 until moving into a similar position with Major League Soccer in March of 2026.