Tim Howard says US team performs poorly, must win at CONCACAF Gold Cup

Former U.S. men's soccer legendary goalkeeper Tim Howard was ruthless about the current state of the national team in a recent podcast, saying the team's "poor performance" in the CONCACAF Nations League was disappointing, and stressed that the team must win the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup, otherwise the U.S. team will face huge risks before the 2026 World Cup.

In the Unfiltered Soccer podcast, co-hosted with Landon Donovan, another American team star, Howard reviewed the US team's defeats to Panama and Canada in the Nations League. He bluntly pointed out that the current players "made former coach Berhalter lose his job" and now that Pochettino has replaced him, they must learn from it.

Howard said angrily: "This group of players caused the head coach to be fired, lost to Panama, and stopped in the semi-finals. The performance in the National League was simply terrible. Fourth place? It's a crime! If anyone on the team is dissatisfied with my remarks now, I have also experienced the situation where the coach was fired because of our poor performance. This is terrible, but this is the reality."

Howard particularly emphasized the importance of the upcoming 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup: "If you originally thought that the CONCACAF Gold Cup would not attract too much attention, now I tell you - we must win the championship, we must! After the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the US team will no longer have any official games to use to prepare for the 2026 World Cup. Of course there will be friendly matches, but this team cannot guarantee that all members will be present."

"You see some players withdraw from the national team preparations, which is common, but the problem is - you don't have time! Unless the whole team is fully assembled at the CONCACAF Gold Cup and wins the championship, I am really worried about this team."

The United States had previously won three consecutive Nations League titles, but this defeat put the team at the center of public opinion. After being eliminated early in the group stage of the 2024 America's Cup, the team's morale suffered another setback.

According to the schedule, the US team will face Turkey and Switzerland on June 7 and 10 respectively before the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and will then compete in the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup from June 14 to July 6. This will be their last chance to fully test their competitiveness before the 2026 World Cup on home soil.