Mauricio Pochettino named Matt Freese his starting goalkeeper ahead of the United States men's national team's second group-stage match of the Concacaf Gold Cup against Saudi Arabia.
Per Steven Goff of The Washington Post, the USMNT coach says he's sticking with Freese, hoping to "give now some continuity to see how he deals with the pressure to be No. 1 in the national team."
Sounds like Matt Freese will remain the USMNT’s starting keeper. Pochettino: “The opportunity for Matt is an opportunity that he deserved because he's doing well in his club, and of course, is to give now some continuity to see how he deals with the pressure to be No. 1 in the national team.”
— Steven Goff (@stevengoff.bsky.social) June 18, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Not clear from Pochettino's comments is how long that continuity will be extended for Freese, but the New York City FC goalkeeper already started the first Gold Cup match, and Pochettino has been open about his willingness to try someone other than Matt Turner in goal for the USMNT.
The USMNT coach was quoted by ESPN as saying at Gold Cup media day in May, "It's open now in our mind, it's open for another player maybe to challenge in between [the goalkeepers] and maybe to try to give the possibility to play [to] another player."
That open-minded approach created what now looks like a golden opportunity for Freese to impress throughout a potential United States run in the Gold Cup. The USMNT won this trophy seven times in the past, so expectations are high for Freese and his teammates – it's a "Final or bust," bordering on "win the trophy or bust," vibe when the Gold Cup comes around.
Giving Freese an extended look in the Gold Cup is also something of a gamble by Pochettino due to Freese's lack of senior national team experience. Freese played his first competitive match for the United States and earned a clean sheet in the USMNT's 5-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago on June 15 to open their Gold Cup campaign.
Matthew Mangam
That was Freese's second start out of the three June matches played by the United States, with Matt Turner in goal for the ugly 0-4 loss to Switzerland in a friendly in Nashville on June 10.
Freese lost the friendly he started, too, but he didn't make any obvious errors and looked solid – unlike Turner against the Swiss who had a costly rebound spill that led directly to a goal. Turner played every USMNT minute at the 2022 World Cup and has 51 appearances for the States, but he only appeared in four matches during the entirety of the 2024-2025 season he spent on loan with Crystal Palace FC, and none of those were in the Premier League.
Past national team experience favors Turner, but Freese is in midseason form with New York City FC in MLS and is again performing like one of the top keepers in the league, in the top-ten among all MLS goalkeepers for saves (8th with 54) and clean sheets (8th with six), with a lower goals against per 90 minutes this season when compared to 2024 as well as a similar, if slightly worse than in 2024, save percentage – 73.2%, 16th-best in MLS, down slightly from his 75.2% save percentage in 2024.
Despite the strong play at club level, it wasn’t clear Freese would get his opportunity as the USMNT’s No 1 entering this summer. When wondering about Freese’s Gold Cup roster chances back in April, a main obstacle appeared to be the similarly strong seasons enjoyed by two fellow American MLS goalkeepers, Patrick Schulte of Columbus Crew and Zack Steffen of Colorado Rapids.
All three names were on Pochettino's training camp roster announced in late May, but only Freese emerged healthy and ready to play this summer, with Schulte and Steffen both ruled out of the friendlies and Gold Cup due to injury. A bad twist of fate for Schulte and Steffen meant a door opened wide for Freese.
Against Trinidad in his first meaningful test on the international stage, Freese made two saves and completed 100% of his attempted passes, but the match was lopsided in favor of the United States from the get-go and Freese wasn't tested too extensively.
Bigger tests await, starting with Saudi Arabia in the second group game, but especially once (presumably) the United States advances into the knockouts. Depending on the results to finish out the Gold Cup group stage, we might get a very NYCFC-flavored quarterfinal featuring Freese and the USMNT vs Alonso Martínez and Costa Rica in the quarterfinals.
The winner of Group D, currently topped by the United States, is lined up to face the second-place team from Group A – currently Costa Rica, winners of both Gold Cup games they've played and level on points, six, with Mexico, but behind El Tri on goal differential.
Costa Rica and Mexico play head-to-head to close out the group, a match in which Mexico will be favored, just as they're favored to top Group A, and just as the USMNT will be expected to top Group D. That makes it entirely possible the two NYCFC teammates go head-to-head in a quarterfinal scheduled to be played on Saturday, June 28 in Glendale, Arizona, on the exact night Freese and Martínez's club team plays its next MLS match on the road against Montréal.
Matthew Mangam
