ARLINGTON, Texas - The permutations for the U.S. men's national team's are straighforward. They've already locked in a spot in the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup, booking that in their 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia on Thursday. A win on Sunday vs Haiti would see them top the group. So, too, would a draw.
Even a narrow loss would probably be fine, given the six-goal difference standing between them and Saudi Arabia. But rest assured that Mauricio Pochettino and the USMNT won't be doing a deep dive into the mathematics of it all.
This is still a prove-it summer, and there's still so much to prove.
That continues on Sunday against Haiti in their Gold Cup group stage finale, kicking off at 7 p.m. ET in Dallas. Having built momentum with consecutive victories over Trinidad and Tobago and Saudi Arabia, Pochettino's side will have plenty to play for on the macro level, as players continue to establish themselves with many of the team's top stars - Christian Pulisic, Antonee Robinson, Weston McKennie, et al - not in this pool.
On the micro level, there are spots up for grabs and, after two consecutive games with the same XI, there will likely be different players looking to make their cases. Rotation backfired for Pochettino in the pre-Gold Cup friendly against Switzerland, but Haiti - which lost to Saudi Arabia 1-0 and then drew T&T 1-1 in its first two matches - doesn't present that kind of threat.
That makes it an opportunity for some potential new starters on Sunday.
GOAL looks at five keys for the U.S. against Haiti.
