US coach Pochettino brushes off Turkey defeat, insists winning group was main target

[p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/usa/fuitL4CF/"]US[/a] will ‌face [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/bosnia-herzegovina-fqe7WYTr/usa-fuitL4CF/?mid=A1Jughll"]Bosnia and Herzegovina in Santa Clara in the ‌round of 32[/a] on Wednesday, and Pochettino was ‌frustrated that much of the post-match discussion centred on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/turkey-7s-QeijuHo5/usa-fuitL4CF/?mid=SCvmMa2U"]the defeat[/a] rather than the co-hosts achieving their ‌main goal of winning Group D.[/p][p][b]"At ⁠the moment no one ‌congratulated us for finishing first in our group,"[/b] Pochettino ​told reporters. [b]"I congratulate the players, the staff and the fans to finish first in ​a very difficult group."[/b][/p][p]Turkey had already been eliminated before kick-off but the Argentine said the mood ⁠after the match ​was as if his team were the ones going home.[/p][p][b]"Our objective was to finish first, and we finished first,"[/b] he said. [b]"I'm so positive and I'm ‌happy. Your questions are a little bit weird."[/b][/p][image alt="Turkey vs USA momentum" id="2ac5d3cf-7c42-4edf-9b05-f22f3e15462b" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="c9d8c89e-07cb-44bd-a118-24dbadc33f85" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /][p]Pochettino said the defeat had to be viewed in context, with the US already through to the knockout stage and making wholesale changes to their starting line-up after victories over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/paraguay/YaNlqp6j/"]Paraguay[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/australia/xSrf6qMM/"]Australia[/a].[/p][p][b]"Whenever a team has already qualified and another team has already been knocked out, so many situations ‌come into play,"[/b] he added.[/p][p]Pochettino said the performance ​reinforced his belief in the depth of the ‌squad, with several players making their World Cup debuts.[/p][p][b]"We are a much better team now than before,"[/b] he said. [b]"We qualified as number one and we went to the next round. ⁠I need to ⁠remind you that ‌we won the group."[/b][/p][infobox id="4ccc1b10-d68f-4c97-bcf4-5e613c17c2e3" /]