After It’s Home Loss To Korea, USMNT’s Soccer Defcon Level Is 3

HARRISON, NEW JERSEY – SEPTEMBER 06: United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino on the sidelines during the second half of an International Friendly between the United States and Korea Republic at Sports Illustrated Stadium on September 06, 2025 in Harrison, New Jersey. (Photo by John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)

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In the 1983 movie WarGames, which starred Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy, much of the American public was introduced to the various levels of Defcon.

Defcon provides alerts based on the U.S. military readiness in times of conflict. It ranges from Defcon 5, which is the normal state, all the way up to Defcon 1, which means the USA is in a state of war or that a nuclear threat is imminent.

The current level is at Defcon 3, which means there is an increase in alertness and military readiness – aka as yellow alert.

This writer has invented a Defcon pecking order for American soccer, specifically for the U.S. Men’s National Team in wake of what transpired at Sports Illustrated Stadium on Saturday night.

The U.S. went down to a discouraging and embarrassing 2-0 defeat to the Korea Republic in front of a capacity crowd that sounded and looked more like Seoul, Korea than Harrison, N.J., the red-clad crowd was so partisan to the visiting side.

The Americans dropped their seventh of their last eight games against opposition ranked in the top 30. Not a good record at all for a team that not only will host the World Cup, but wants to go deep, and perhaps reach the quarterfinals.

Many members of the media criticized the team’s performance as did supporters, who were not impressed with the Americans, particularly in the first half, when the Koreans controlled the game and scored both goals.

Explaining Soccer Defcon

Soccer fans fall into one of five levels:

* Defcon 5 – Everything is hunky-dory. It can’t get too much better this, outside of winning or going deep in the World Cup.

* Defcon 4 – Things are comme-ci comme-ça. In other words, the team is so-so.

* Defcon 3 – Yellow alert! It is time to be concerned, perhaps very concerned.

* Defcon 2 – Orange alert! It is time to be worried, very worried.

* Defcon 1 – Red alert! The team is in trouble big time.

So, where does the current state of the USMNT fall in this writer’s eyes?

Defcon 3, with the possibility of switching to 2 if the losing continues. The USA hosts Japan in another friendly at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET (TNT, HBO MAX, Universo, Peacock).

He wants Pochettino out

There are some pundits, notably FOX Sports’ and former USMNT defender Alexi Lalas, who are not pleased with Pochettino. Lalas is calling for head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s head, and that the team needs a new coach and direction.

On Lalas’ State of the Union podcast, former USMNT midfielder Stuart Holden his FOX Sports cohort if he would give Pochettino the axe of he was running the show at U.S. Soccer.

“Yeah, I would,” Lalas said. “I’ve spent time with Mauricio Pochettino. I think he is a quality coach. But again, if this was not a home World Cup, then no [I wouldn’t fire him].”

Lalas added that despite Pochettino being the highest paid coach in U.S. Soccer history, the team hasn’t delivered. “We paid $6 million to get someone to tell us what we already knew? Yeah. Wow.”

This writer is not there, at least not yet, pending on what transpires in Columbus and beyond.

Pochettino’s claim

After Saturday’s encounter, Pochettino claimed that the Americans outplayed the Koreans, even though the visitors controlled the opening half while scoring both goals.

“Overall, I think we were better than South Korea, but in the end, if you are not clinical, it’s difficult,” he said. “Because we created more chances and we had the feeling that we controlled the game.

“I am very disappointed about the result, but I think overall the performance is a massive improvement… I am so pleased in the way that we are evolving, from the Gold Cup today with different players, but also the players start to understand what we expect from them.”

Hmmm. An interesting take because for the most part, the USA chased the game, particularly in the first half.

In the final half, the U.S. had possession of the ball for long stretches of time, but could not break the Korea backline, whether it was Christian Pulisic lofting a free kick over the crossbar or one of his teammates having their shots blocked by the defense.

One reason why the U.S. dominated in the second half was because the Koreans pulled back, satisfied to play defense while trying for a third goal via a counterattack. It is a strategy that is used by hundreds, if not thousands of teams, worldwide, at many levels.

Doubling down

During a Tuesday press conference, Pochettino doubled down on his remarks from Saturday.

“Because I think we performed, despite the result, in a very good way,” he said. “The players tried to do; they did what we wanted. I think I am positive because the players trust in the process, because they know that we have a plan, know here inside that we have a plan, and we stick with the plan.”

He added: “Of course, I’m the first guy that is interested [in winning] because … we are very competitive. But in the same time also is the process and the plan that we have, we stick with that still.

“If we play the same game again, [and] we should learn in the way that we need to learn, we’ll be closer to [winning]. That’s why I’m happy and looking forward to tomorrow.”

As Pochettino stated, winning is important, but at the present time, he is more focused on players to buy into the plan, even though he dismissed the importance of building a successful rhythm entering the World Cup.

“We need to start to win when the World Cup starts,” he said, adding that there have been “too many examples of teams that win during five years [before the tournament] and then arrive at the World Cup and they don’t arrive in the best condition. I was involved in 2002 with Argentina, we were winning [for] years and then at the World Cup, and we were out in the group stage.”

Looking back and looking ahead

A little history lesson: Only one host side has not gotten out of the group stage, and that was South Africa in 2010. At the 1994 World Cup, the Americans upset heavily favored Columbia, 2-1 and qualified for the Round of 16 before it was eliminated by eventual champion Brazil, 1-0.

The 1994 team staved off any embarrassment.

The goal next year will be to go beyond the second round of the 48-team tournament and hopefully go deep in the competition.

That will be something to worry about in eight- or nine-months’ time.

Today, the fans and media are concerned, and others are worrying about the state of the team as it prepares to play Japan.

So, will the USMNT play better from the start and not chase the game and perhaps score the first goal to take control in Columbus? That’s what the USA needs to do to satisfy its critics. A win would be nice, too.

If that doesn’t transpire, Soccer Defcon could move to Level 2 with many more fans and media becoming even more worried.

That’s the last thing U.S. Soccer needs right now.

Michael Lewis. who has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), can be followed at Soccerwriter on X (formerly Twitter) and Bluesky.