Mauricio Pochettino’s Gold Cup Breakdown Sparks ‘Strange Reaction’ from USMNT Legend

Alexi Lalas: “What’s this? Why are you crying and in tears?”

On his State of the Union podcast, Lalas said he had mixed feelings about the emotional scene. “There’s the part of me that’s the cynic and says, ‘What’s this? Why are you crying and in tears?’” he said.

“And then there’s the part of me that’s a romantic and says, ‘I love the fact that my national team coach is crying because the pain he feels of failure and not getting it across the line,’ in a Gold Cup that… a lot of people thought was irrelevant anyway.”

Lalas said the raw emotion might actually help Pochettino connect with fans and the locker room. “It meant that much to him,” he said. “So much that when he’s talking to these players, the emotion is just pouring out of him in the form of tears. Yeah, I think that will endear him to some.”

At the same time, Lalas said the tears could raise questions. “To some, who question how much he actually cares… how much Mauricio Pochettino actually cares about this team and more importantly about the job he has to do next summer.”

The U.S. will co-host the 2026 World Cup and that’s the real focus for Pochettino. So the Gold Cup was a chance to try out new players and ideas.