Mauricio Pochettino urges USMNT to treat every World Cup game ?like a final?

• US drew Australia, Paraguay, Euro play-off team
  
• Pochettino: friendlies tell little about WC tests
  
• Manage wants ?final? mindset for every match

Mauricio Pochettino said that it is ?neither an advantage nor a disadvantage? that the United States? World Cup group consists of two ? and perhaps three ? teams that his team will have played in friendlies within a year or so before kickoff of their opening game.
The US were drawn with Australia, Paraguay and the winner of a European play-off involving Turkey, Romania, Kosovo and Slovakia. The US played Australia in a friendly in October, winning 2-1 in Commerce City, Colorado. They played Paraguay in another friendly in November ? a game that marked Gio Reyna?s return to form with the national team in a 2-1 win. Turkey, should they make it through the play-off, would have a leg up on preparations, having beaten the US 2-1 in a pre-Gold Cup friendly in June 2025.
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