Brenden Aaronson says USMNT ‘ready to give our all’ as Leeds star makes World Cup group prediction

Aaronson recently came on as a late substitute for the USMNT in their 2-0 defeat to Portugal -Credit:Shaun Clark/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images

However, Aaronson, who remained on the bench against Belgium, has since attempted to dispel any suggestions that their losses were down to an absence of caring from his side, telling ESPN, “I think it's tough because I feel like there's this kind of stigma that people don't think that we care and stuff like that, but we do care. I think we care a lot.

“It's difficult when we go into games and we lose games like that. I think the Belgium game was a bit hard done by, because I thought we were the better team for most of that game.”

Reflecting on their March camp, Aaronson believes he saw a group which “was super focused,” adding, “I saw a great group of guys that want to make the country proud, want to make everybody proud.

“Now it's up to us. We have two more games going into the World Cup to do what we can and the coach is giving us all the right things that we can do.

“So I mean, it's just up to us. It's up to us to make the final thing and I think everybody's ready to go for it and ready to give their all.”

The USMNT is slated to take on Senegal and Germany in their two World Cup friendlies on May 31 and June 6, respectively, before the tournament begins in Mexico City between El Tri and South Africa on the 11th.

Pochettino’s side will see its tournament kick off a day later in California when they host Group D rivals Paraguay, before taking on Australia on the 19th in Washington, with their group stage concluding on the 25th back on the West Coast against Türkiye.

Unfortunately for the USMNT, they head into their final warm-up games and the tournament itself, lacking momentum thanks not only to their third and fourth consecutive losses to European nations under Pochettino, but also off the back of the sudden exit of U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker.

Regardless, Aaronson remained undeterred by their recent defeats, admitting that while they had wanted to perform better, he acknowledged that both are among “the best countries in the world.”

Aaronson's Leeds United is currently 15th in the Premier League -Credit:Mark Cosgrove/News Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images

He later added, “I know we could have done better and I think going into the World Cup, we're going to have three tough group-stage games where they're very, very good.

“We're just going to have to be ready for these games and I think we will be. We've played against most of these teams and we're just really ready to give our all and go to the next round and get past the Round of 16 and keep doing our thing.”