‘There’s time to realize we need to compete’ - Mauricio Pochettino demands intensity following Belgium loss: Five keys for USMNT vs Portugal

The first half on Saturday showed how good the U.S. can be when things go well. For 45 minutes, they went toe-to-toe with Belgium and arguably had the better of it. They could have had more, but regardless, they proved they can play with a top side.

The second half showed the flip side. It wasn’t just how bad things can get - it’s how quickly they fall apart with even a slight drop-off. The ceiling is higher than ever, but the margin for error is thin. As Pochettino put it, it comes down to intensity.

"I think we need to be more aggressive and more intense and try to recover the ball as soon as possible," Pochettino said. "I think what we provided was too much time to Belgium to build the attack, and it was too easy to translate, from their box to our box, the ball with no aggression. That is about paying more attention in a positive way."

In Tuesday's game, the U.S. could do everything right and, most likely, that would allow them to play with Portugal. Doing the slightest thing wrong, though, will be a death sentence. Did the U.S. learn that lesson against Belgium? If they didn't, there could be one more humbling on the road to the World Cup.

Pochettino made a bold choice against Belgium. By starting Turner in that game, he, at the very least, introduced a shred of doubt about Matt Freese's status as No. 1. That may not have been his intention and he may have been looking at Turner for a backup role after so many consecutive games with Freese. However, it was a natural side effect of changing goalkeepers after sticking with that one for so long.

So now, in the second game, who takes precedent? One would assume it's Freese, who is going to need games like this if he is going to be the USMNT's starter. He's built up a pretty good resume over the last few months, but those few months are the extent of his national team career. More is needed if he's going to be the guy in the summer.

To be clear, although five goals were scored, Turner wasn't the reason for them. He actually had a few good saves in the game and, by and large, Belgium's finishes were the result of defensive calamity, not goalkeeper howlers. Few in his position could have done better, but there's no denying that any game with five goals will only be remembered as a bad one.

If Freese does get the start and does have a good game, that'll probably be the goalkeeper race done and dusted, if it isn't already.

"It's an open competition," Pochettino said of the goalkeeper spot. "It's true that we didn't say when we finished this training session. We are going to analyze all the things and the combinations, but at the moment, I cannot confirm who is going to play."

He got some time against Belgium but he needs more, of course. Gio Reyna is looking to make the USMNT squad and perhaps even contribute this summer, and he still has a point to prove.

Leading up to camp, Pochettino essentially said that Reyna is a special case. No, there haven't been many club minutes and, no, there's no form to count on, but what Reyna does have is talent. That talent tends to show itself with the USMNT, which is what happened in the fall. Fair or unfair, there are times when talent wins out. World Cups are one of those times.

Is that talent worth the question marks? That’s for Pochettino to decide, but another strong showing would reinforce the idea that the Reyna seen with the U.S. is a different player than the one struggling for minutes in Germany.

The cadence was the same all through the fall: Folarin Balogun would start one game and come off the bench in the other. Well, he started Saturday's match and, if the pattern holds, another striker is getting a chance on Tuesday. Who will it be, though?

There's Ricardo Pepi, who has earned something of a reward for the pressing he did to set up the USMNT's late goal this weekend. Pepi, too, has the club success to justify a significant look, particularly if Pochettino thinks there's any chance he could leapfrog Balogun by June. Due to injury issues, Pepi played just 15 USMNT minutes in 2025, and it's time to get things back on track to start 2026.

Patrick Agyemang, meanwhile, has his own case to start. He's the one who scored from Pepi's pressing, taking his chance with ease. He's been flying with Derby County and is looking like a very different player from the one we saw in 2025. Considering the current situation, does he have more to gain by starting? Is that enough reason to start him?

Pochettino could also, of course, go with Balogun, who seems to be the guy at the moment. He had very little service last game, which prevented him from really impacting the game. Maybe there's a desire to give him another go and, hopefully, a bit more of the ball.

Options, options, options - which one does Pochettino go with?

Don't let Portugal's scoreless draw with Mexico fool you; this is a team with an impressive amount of talent and firepower. A Seleção have several of the best midfielders in the world, attackers starring for clubs like Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, and Juventus, and arguably the game's best fullback in Nuno Mendes. This is a group that can attack from all angles, particularly without Cristiano Ronaldo serving as the more static figurehead up top.

Defending that will not be easy. As good as Belgium is, Portugal, on paper, are on another level. Vitinha, Joao Neves, Ruben Neves and Bruno Fernandes can all run circles around players and, regardless of what combination is on the field, they likely will a few times. The U.S. will have to handle that and cope with it as best they can.

"[Carlo] Ancelotti, and I don't know if he said it exactly like this, but he said who will win the World Cup is not the team that will score more," Pochettino began. "The team that concedes less will win the World Cup. That's a very interesting reflection."

What this team cannot do is defend as they did with Jeremy Doku on Saturday. They cannot let any of these players run rampant, and cannot let any defenders get isolated one-on-one over and over again. Saying it is simple, but executing will be hard, particularly against a team this talented. It'll help that Chris Richards is back. It'll hurt that Johnny Cardoso is out. Either way, though, this will be a team effort, one that is a lot bigger than one player or one sequence on either side.