Photo by John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images

Pochettino Blasts ‘Disrespectful’ Question After USMNT's 5–1 Win over Uruguay

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Emmanuel Mendez | Last updated Nov 18, 2025 10:06 PM ET

The USMNT ends 2025 with an incredible win over Uruguay. Mauricio Pochettino's USMNT defeated Uruguay 5-1 at Raymond James Stadium.

Sebastian Berhalter, Diego Luna, Tanner Tessmann, and two goals from Alex Freeman sealed the win over the South American team and made it four wins out of the last five matches against teams qualified for the World Cup.

This is the first time the USMNT has scored five goals past a former World Cup-winning country, and the worst defeat of a CONMEBOL team to a CONCACAF team since the USMNT defeated Bolivia 4-0 in 2016.

Despite these impressive records after a convincing win, Pochettino was annoyed at a question in the post-match press conference on regards to players not included in the current roster for this match.

Mauricio Pochettino, head coach of United States, gives instructions to Sebastian Berhalter #17 and Alex Freeman #16 of United States during the International Friendly match between United States and Uruguay at Raymond James Stadium on November 18, 2025 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Howard Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)

The roster for the November international break left many USMNT fans surprised with the absence of key players like Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie. The topic of the missing players annoyed Pochettino, and he found the question disrespectful.

Pochettino's reaction to question on missing players

After the 5-1 win over Uruguay, Pochettino was asked about the amazing performance despite the absence of 'regular players'. The comment on 'regular players' did not satisfy the USMNT head coach.

Pochettino did not want to talk about the missing players in the roster that many fans consider 'regulars' in the national team.

The USMNT head coach said, "I don't want to start negative (but) 'no regular players'. What does that mean? ... It's so disrespectful."

Pochettino credits the current roster he has for this November camp and labels the roster for the match against Uruguay as 'The United States national team.'

The head coach continues to defend his players who defeated Uruguay and says, "Every time that our decision about to pick a starting 11, it’s the U.S. national team playing. After one year, I think you really need to know me that I hate to talk in this way. It’s so disrespectful. It’s disrespectful because we need to give credit to all the guys that today were involved and Paraguay too. It’s about to win games and to perform."

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: