US men’s soccer makes strides during Gold Cup, but  enough for World Cup?

The U.S. men's national soccer team brought their backups to the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament

but that did not stop them from having an outstanding run to the final match

It didn't end the way they wanted, but they're hoping the tournament laid the foundation for next summer's World Cup

A 2-1 loss to Mexico in the final was a tough way to wrap up the 4th of July holiday weekend

especially since the Americans scored the first goal, and they looked to be in good form

Mexico answered later in the first half to take the match to halftime even at a goal apiece

There were some controversial moments in the second half, a clear handball by a Mexican player that should have been a penalty kick for the U.S

The referee said it wasn't intentional and thus didn't call the foul

but U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino didn't hold back in the post-match press conference

And he's not about to cry, he's not about to complain, It's not about to put excuses in the different things

But I think we can continue stalking. For me, it was embarrassing to see that situation, and it's a shame

The game-winning goal by Mexico was also frustrating for Pochettino and his players

The header by Edson Alvarez was initially disallowed for offside. But after a VAR review, the goal was deemed good

Controversy aside, after four consecutive losses in friendly matches heading into the tournament

the U.S. completely turned things around. They won three Gold Cup group stage matches

and then two elimination matches to make it to the final, all without their best players

Pochettino believes his team has discovered their identity But the most important thing is to have our head up because I think the tournament was fantastic and I think keep going

That is in the way that we want to build our journey until the World Cup

In this way, I have no doubt that we are going to be really, really competitive and going

to be very difficult for the opponent. Adding established national team stars like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKinney, Anthony

Robinson and Serginio Dest can only help next summer. All of them and several other national

team regulars decided to skip the Gold Cup to rest or play for their professional clubs

A month ago, former Team USA legend and now soccer yst Landon Donovan called out those stars for

skipping the tournament, saying they needed to take more pride in playing for their country

He had a more positive spin Sunday night after the loss. So to get to the final and put in a really good effort against a good Mexico team was a positive, although it hurts to lose

And we don't ever take solace in losing, but I think it was a big stepping stone for this team

The U.S. will have two friendly matches in September to see where their progress stands before learning their World Cup draw in December

The question is how Pochettino will reintegrate those big-time stars into a group that took several steps without them over the last month

Pochettino didn't want to talk about the missing guys Sunday night, saying he wasn't going to make excuses

He added that he and his staff were people that are very open

The players that deserve to be on the team will be there next summer

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis