LOS ANGELES: The United States ended their four-match losing run with a resounding 5-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago in their opening game of the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Sunday in San Jose.

Mauricio Pochettino and his team, which is missing several Europe-based regulars, had faced plenty of criticism after recent friendly defeats to Turkiye and Switzerland.

But the former Tottenham Hotspur manager Pochettino said it was important to start the Gold Cup with a “good feeling”.

“Today’s game was also a difficult one, especially because of the negative things that happened in recent weeks,” he was quoted as saying by ESPN.

“Some results that haven’t gone well always generate a bit of noise. It’s important for the players to have that confidence.”

In desperate need of a change in mood around the team, a year out from the World Cup they will co-host with Canada and Mexico, Pochettino fielded an attacking line-up.

Against a Trinidad team, coached by former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke, it proved to be just the kind of stress-free comfortable win that the Argentine coach was seeking.

The US were on top from the outset with two early chances for striker Patrick Agyemang and it was the striker who helped create the 16th-minute opener.

Agyemang won the ball off Trinidad defender Alvin Jones, found Jack McGlynn on the right who kept his cool and clipped the ball to the back post where Malik Tillman collected and then slotted home.

It was a tough day for Jones, who then gifted the US their second goal with a back-pass that went straight to winger Diego Luna who broke away and then unselfishly squared to Tillman for the PSV Eind­hoven midfielder’s second.

Trinidad were showing why they have fallen down the FIFA rankings, slipping to 100th and fourth in the Caribbean, below Curacao, lacking any kind of solidity.

The lively Luna created the third, a minute before the break, when he cut in from the left and his low shot deflected off Agyemang and beat the helpless Marin Phillip.

It was easy going for Pochettino’s side in the second half with Trinidad managing to threaten once when Tyrese Spicer put a low ball across the face of the goal but the sliding Dante Sealy was unable to connect.

With the game fizzling out, Pochettino made a triple substitution and that added some late urgency to his side’s attack.

Sub Brenden Aaronson cut in from left and squeezed a low shot past Phillip’s near post and then another man off the bench, Haji Wright completed the convincing victory when he broke down the left and drifted inside before placing the ball in the far corner.

With the World Cup on the horizon, Pochettino said the Gold Cup, which run until July 6, would be a chance for players to stake their claim for a place in the squad next year.

“We want to win, but at the same time it’s to help the players to perform and to knock (on) the door and say, we can perform for the national team and we can be involved in the next World Cup,” he added.

“That is what I expect. Win, and the player really believes that they are having the opportunity...(to) fight for a place in the World Cup.”

The US, looking for an eighth Gold Cup title, face Saudi Arabia and Haiti in their remaining two games in Group ‘D’.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2025