The United States will face Costa Rica in the quarter-finals of the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup and Pochettino said he was looking forward to seeing Keylor Navas again, whom he had coached at Paris Saint-Germain, and hailed him as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

The 38-year-old Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas played for Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 from 2019 to 2024 and was also coached by Pochettino. Currently, Keylor Navas plays for Newell's Old Boys in the Argentine Primera Division.

U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said, "I have very fond memories with Keylor Navas. I have always admired him when we were at Paris Saint-Germain. His mentality and ability are admirable, and it will be a great moment to meet him again tomorrow."

"He's a great player and one of the best goalkeepers in the world. We're happy to see him again but hopefully we'll have better luck than he and Costa Rica have."

In the third round of the group stage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the United States defeated Haiti 2-1 with goals from Malik Tillman and Patrick Agyemang, and advanced to the quarterfinals with three consecutive wins.

Talking about the upcoming match against Costa Rica, Pochettino said, "It will be a difficult game. We study them by watching videos, and they will play aggressively and fight for every challenge. This kind of game is like this. The previous group stage was just a preview, and the difficulty of the current stage will only continue to increase. "

"It will also be a very physical game and as long as we can match or even exceed their intensity, then we have a chance."

Pochettino also said, "We have midfielders who can be combined in different combinations, maybe three or two, there may be different changes, this is another option for us. We are ready and have trained well, and tomorrow is the time for us to show ourselves."