Reeling U.S. must open Gold Cup with a win: 'It’ll help us feel good about ourselves'

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Even without the likes of lock starters such as Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Antonee Robinson and Tim Weah, members of the U.S. men’s national team’s shorthanded Concacaf Gold Cup squad believe they can beat the odds and claim the regional championship for the eighth time in program history next month.

First, they have to win a soccer game.

Coming off four consecutive defeats — the United States men's longest losing streak in 18 years — Mauricio Pochettino’s under-strength side heads into its Gold Cup opener on Sunday against Trinidad and Tobago (kickoff at 6 p.m. ET on FOX) desperate to snap the skid.

A victory would help the Americans kick off the three-week-long competition — the last tournament for the U.S. before next summer’s FIFA World Cup on home soil — on a good foot. Perhaps as important, three points against the Soca Warriors would provide a much-needed boost in morale.

"We understand that it can't keep going on like that for much longer," U.S. center back Chris Richards told reporters before the team trained at Stanford University on Saturday.  "At some point, we have to just kind of buckle up and start to play better, start to win games.

"If we win the first game, that'll set us up for the rest of the tournament," Richards continued. "It’ll help us feel good about ourselves. I think it'll definitely give us momentum. But also, I think it'll give everybody around the camp just kind of a breath of fresh air. We're ready for it."

They had better be. While the U.S. is the favorite against T&T, no U.S. fan will ever take a contest against the two-island Caribbean nation lightly again — not since that shocking loss in tiny Couva, Trinidad in 2017 that cost the Americans a World Cup