“What I felt best for my body,” is how Christian Pulisic explained his decision to step back from this summer’s 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Having endured enough toll on the domestic front, while also making subsequent efforts for the USMNT, Mr. Captain America thought what was best for his interests. The result? His teammates just lost the final against Mexico, leaving Mauricio Pochettino with no choice but to fire a candid message on Pulisic’s absence.

El Tri again proved themselves the better opponents against the Stars and Stripes, as they made an emphatic comeback to secure a 1-2 win as well as the Gold Cup. Of course, it’s no use blaming Pulisic’s absence over this unfortunate result, who rather took a call to step aside just for the sake of his own physical and mental health. Simply put, little did he have a say in deciding whether he’d be part of this camp or not.

However, Pochettino seems to be singing a completely different melody, as he isn’t bothering himself about what it could have been for his team in Pulisic’s presence. Speaking in the aftermath of the defeat, he said, “The roster that we have is the roster who deserved to be here. Now is not the time to talk about the players who are here or not here. We are talking about the competition, the performance, that we lost the final,” as compiled by journalist Kyle Bonn on X.

Clearly, Pochettino didn’t seem interested in entertaining any kind of questions related to the absentees or those who were in this camp. The 52-year-old is clearly upset with the loss and is concerned about how it affects their stance on preparations for the 2026 World Cup. Then again, a little bit, we do feel that Mauricio must be upset over not having some big names on his team, including Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Antonee Robinson, and Sergino Dest.

Notably, Pulisic’s decision to not participate in the Gold Cup was made with the upcoming season and its preparations — set to begin in just a few weeks — in mind. Additionally, with the World Cup taking place next summer, the 26-year-old chose to focus on taking as much rest as possible. “Towards the second half and the end of the season, my body just started talking to me—and my mind,” said the AC Milan forward.

Having played 50 games and 3650 minutes on the domestic front, taking adequate rest was crucial for the star forward. “Was that to play eight more games and then get no rest at all—go straight into preseason and then grind another year and go straight into the World Cup? That’s not what I felt best for my body,” added the former Borussia Dortmund star.

Yet, despite prioritizing his health and making a decision for the long run, he ended up losing the USMNT fanbase, who apparently may not hold expectations from him anymore. Then again, not all the blame falls on his shoulders, as Pochettino might have a reason why his side ended up losing.

USMNT faced much more worse than the absence of Christian Pulisic

One of the game’s most controversial moments came in the 67th minute, when referee Mario Escobar let play continue despite Mexico’s Jorge Sánchez using the ball to push himself up after a tussle with the USMNT’s Max Arfsten. Since it happened inside Mexico’s penalty area, many felt the U.S. had a strong case for a penalty. The result?

Just 10 minutes later, Mexico scored and went on to beat the hosts for the sixth time in a Gold Cup final. Pochettino was visibly frustrated on the sidelines, a reaction highlighted in a post on X by Fox News’ Doug McIntyre. “I’m not going to cry. I want to tell the truth. And the truth is if that happened in the opposite half, in the other box, for sure it’s a penalty,” said the former Chelsea manager. 

Even after the final whistle, he seemed convinced Mexico benefited from a crucial officiating error. “It’s like plenty of penalties that are so silly. Silly, yes. The player was with the knee on the floor. He pushed the hand over the ball. It’s not that the hand was on the floor and the ball touched,” concluded the Argentinian tactician.

Overall, it was a sad day at the office for the USWNT. Let’s see how things unfold for them moving forward, with a hope to see Christian Pulisic back in the mix very soon.