Malik Tillman and Diego Luna make Pulisic and co sweat with Gold Cup form

It ultimately ended in heartbreak for Mauricio Pochettino and his second-string USMNT side after they fell at the final hurdle, losing 2-1 to arch-rivals Mexico in the Gold Cup decider on Sunday. There are still a couple of positives, however, Malik Tillman and Diego Luna ripped it up.

There was a lot of talk about the players that were missing ahead of the tournament, most notably when Christian Pulisic decided to sit it out and focus on his physical and mental health following a gruelling season with Milan.

Tim Weah and Weston McKennie also decided to opt out, instead taking part in Juventus’ underwhelming FIFA Club World Cup campaign, while Gio Reyna played just 12 minutes for Borussia Dortmund at the same tournament.

Beyond the many players who were unavailable to Poch, several who were originally called up for the tournament left due to injury, including Sergiño Dest, Haji Wright, Folarin Balogun and Zack Steffen.

All of those players are, on paper, part of the USMNT’s best squad, despite lacklustre performances for their country over the past couple of years, especially in the CONCACAF Nations League, Poch’s first tournament in charge.

Most of them were available to Poch during the Nations League, but, despite their reputation as ‘better players’ the USA averaged 1.5 goals compared to the 2.2 in the Gold Cup.

They also kept one more clean sheet this time around, two from their six Gold Cup games. The differences don’t end there, at the other end of the pitch, Poch’s lads created 24 big chances compared to their nine in the Nations League.

After their first game, a comprehensive 5-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago, the focus started to shift from the players that were missing, to the players that were there. Tillman and Luna, in particular, caught the eye.

Tillman was fresh off the back of the most prolific season of his career, scoring 16 goals and providing five assists in his 34 games across all competitions for PSV as they beat Ajax to the Eredivisie title in dramatic fashion.

Although deployed as a central midfielder at club level, Poch pushed him a little further forward into the number ten spot, Pulisic’s usual position, to help make up for the lack of creativity his side had without ‘Captain America.’

Before the tournament, Pulisic likely thought he had a place nailed down for the 2026 World Cup, now, he might have a little fire under him. Tillman was arguably the player of the tournament, ending with three goals and two assists in his six games.

Luna, on the other hand, was still in the middle of his season. He’s on course to see out a similarly impressive campaign, currently sitting on eight goals and two assists in his 17 games for Real Salt Lake.

The two players were interchangeable. In the win over Trinidad and Tobago, Tilman started in the ten while Luna played on the left, they then switched for the 1-0 win over everyone’s favourite north/central American nation, Saudi Arabia.

Already through to the round of 16 with two wins from their first two group games, Poch mixed it up, giving Luna a rest but keeping Tillman in the starting 11. He would go on to score the opener in the tenth minute in another fine overall performance.

In the quarter final against Cost Rica, they starred yet again. It was a rocky start for Tillman who missed the chance to level things up from the spot in the 37^th minute. Luna stepped up to lend his teammate a hand and scored the equaliser thanks to a heavy deflection just before the break.

Shortly after half-time, Tillman dusted himself off to provide the assist for Max Arfsten’s goal, which was later cancelled out by Alonso Martínez. The game went to penalties and Tillman elected to give it another go, scoring this time. The two can clearly handle high pressure situations.

By the time the semis rolled around, Poch had settled on where to play his two star men. Luna was officially their left winger while Tillman was the ten. This time it was Luna’s turn to steal the show, scoring a brace in 15 minutes to send his side through to the final.

Unfortunately for Poch and his players, the game against Mexico was a step too far. El Tri were simply better than them at every turn and their experienced stars Raúl Jiménez and Edson Álvarez proved to be the difference.

From the get-go, this was an experiment for Poch with the real test coming next year. At least now he has a better idea of the players he has at his disposal and the depth of the talent pool he can reach in to.

After the final, attention once again turned to the players that were missing. Poch was asked about reintegrated the likes of Pulisic, McKennie, and Antonee Robinson back in the squad.

“You already made the list?” He responded, “Or you ask artificial intelligence and you do the roster for next time?”

“I don’t understand that question. Because for different [reasons], we have the roster that we have. All the American players have the possibility for September to be on the roster. It’s up to us now to analyse, but all the names you told me, all are under scrutiny, and we are following them.”

The Gold Cup may not have ended the way they wanted but one thing is for certain, there is a very healthy level of competition for places, especially in the attacking third. Tillman and Luna have taken their chance and ran with it.

Poch isn’t the type of manager to give into any kind of player power, he also demands 120% effort from his players at all times. If the likes of Pulisic and Reyna don’t step up, they could see their places in the first team taken, at the very least.

This is arguably a golden generation in terms of talent available to the USMNT but they’re in danger of falling flat on the biggest stage, like England and Belgium have done with similar generational talent before them.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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