Mauricio Pochettino rips officials after…
U.S. Men’s National Team coach Mauricio Pochettino didn’t mince his phrases when discussing a controversial no-call in the workforce’s CONCACAF Gold Cup remaining loss to Mexico on Sunday evening.
The controversial play occurred in the second half of the match with the United States and Mexico even at one when defender Luis Sánchez made a play on American midfielder Max Arfsten.
Sanchez’s hand landed clearly on the ball.
But the play wasn’t referred to as a handball after match official Mario Alberto Escobar Toca turned to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), ruling that it was an incidental handball and the United States wouldn’t get a penalty call in their favor.
The choice didn’t sit nicely with Pochettino, who sounded off after the match at NRG Stadium.
“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,” the USMNT coach instructed reporters.
He added: “He [Mexican defender Sánchez] put his hand over the ball. It’s not that the hand was on the floor and the ball touched it.”
Luis Sánchez hits the ball with his hand during the Mexico-USMNT match on July 6, 2025. X / @FOXSoccer
Luis Sánchez hits the ball with his hand during the Mexico-USMNT match on July 6, 2025.
Pochettino was seemingly speaking about the rule that states a handball happens when a participant “touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger.”
The second turned a essential level in the match as the United States might have been in a place to take a lead in the second half.
Instead, Edson Álvarez went on to rating the game-winning purpose in the 77th minute when he headed the ball previous U.S. keeper Matt Freese.
Mauricio Pochettino seems on during the USMNT-Mexico match on July 6, 2025. Getty Images
The purpose had initially been referred to as offside, but after video review, it was decided to be a good purpose.
Chris Richards scored the United States’ first and only purpose of the evening 4 minutes into the match and Raúl Jiménez scored the equalizer in the twenty seventh minute.
Mexico gained its second consecutive Gold Cup title and its tenth all-time, while transferring to 6-2 against the United States in the match remaining.
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