'Found a new identity' - Alexi Lalas hails Mauricio Pochettino for revamped USMNT culture, despite Gold Cup loss to Mexico

The USMNT wasted an early 1-0 lead and lost to Mexico, 2-1, in the Gold Cup final Sunday night - marking El Tri's 10th title in the tournament. Still, ex-USMNT star Alexi Lalas said after the match that Mauricio Pochettino, who took over the team last fall, deserved credit for building "a new identity" for the national team.

"No moral victories," Lalas said on FOX Sports. "When Mauricio Pochettino and his staff look at what they've accomplished at this tournament, I think they're going to find a whole lot of value. They've found a new identity in establishing what they are and, more importantly, what they want to become next summer. And they've used these players to establish that."

The loss was the first in the tournament for the USMNT, who were missing a number of key players, including Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Folarin Balogun and Yunus Musah. In their place, Pochettino gave valuable experience to rising young players such as Diego Luna, Malik Tillman, and Matt Freese.

While the group ultimately lost to a largely full-strength Mexico side, Lalas said some of the stars who missed this tournament are going to need to prove themselves.

"They've gotten beaten tonight by a better team. That's OK," Lalas said. "But more importantly, over the last few weeks, they've established the identity that players on the outside coming back in - whether it's Christian Pulisic or anybody else - have to live up to. Mauricio Pochettino and this team, they need them. They need them to be the best, individually and as a team. They're going to have to conform, they're going to have to adapt to this new identity.

"Even in the moment, it hurts and it should hurt. But recognize there is a long game going on here. I think next summer when the World Cup is here, we may look back on this and point to individual players or moments or a collective identity that shows up then and say this was when the seeds were planted."

This was a relatively inexperienced group for the U.S., with the majority of its players coming from MLS. Landon Donovan and Maurice Edu, two former U.S. stars, called the Gold Cup a valuable tournament for the group.

"They needed an experience like this to grow," Donovan said on FOX. "Looking back, the only way you can gain experience is by going through it. They will come off and go 'Wow what an experience, I've never had an experience like that and I will grow from it.'"

Edu agreed, highlighting the key takeaway.

"The biggest takeaway is the way they grew as a collective group and the way they've learned more about themselves," he said. "Mauricio Pochettino - he learned a lot about himself, and he learned about this group."

The U.S. have played in 13 Gold Cup finals, and they've won seven - with their last win coming in 2021. The U.S. and Mexico have met in eight finals, with the Americans winning just two of the encounters (2007, 2021).

The U.S. will next reconvene for their September friendlies, with matches against South Korea and Japan.