INGLEWOOD, Calif. — U.S. men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino said that Sunday’s third-place game in the Concacaf Nations League against Canada is a match where “we need to show character.”

The U.S. is still smarting from Thursday’s 1-0 defeat to Panama in which Cecilio Waterman’s strike in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time saw the U.S. prevented from winning a fourth straight Nations League title.

Afterward, Pochettino lamented his team’s lack of aggression and intensity, especially in the first half. His hope is for not only a better result, but an improved performance against Canada.

“I think what we want to see is the same focus and concentration and mental level in every single game, official [competition] or no official competition,” he said in his pregame news conference on Saturday.

“And for me, tomorrow is going to be a game, an important game to see how we react. We need to show character … It’s not only about the result but it’s also about to improve our performance.”

That includes AC Milan attacker Christian Pulisic who didn’t have much impact in Thursday’s game.

“A player like him is under pressure in the last few months, high pressure,” Pochettino said, “For sure that is not the Christian that we wanted to see because I think he can do much better.”

Pochettino added that he felt his team’s discipline was there, and that his players followed the game plan. What was missing was the chemistry between players as well as the confidence to take risks in attack.

“They need to trust in that they can make a mistake, and the mistake is not to try again,” he said. “For me that is the most important.”

He added: “People that take risks is what we want, what we love and you cannot play football without risk. If you want to play safe, you are not going to affect the game. That is the important thing that also we were talking yesterday — to take risks, is to be brave.”

Pochettino’s assessment is such that it raised questions about how much of the team’s motivation comes from the coach and how much from the players. Pochettino, while indicating there would be changes to his lineup on Sunday, said it’s the responsibility of both parties.

“Of course you have this characteristic that maybe you can find different ways to motivate people or groups but in the same time you need to identify the players that have their own motivation and their own aggressivity because they’re comfortable in behaving in this way,” he said.

The Panama result has served to raise concerns from fans and media about the form of the USMNT and what it might mean for their performance at next year’s World Cup, which the U.S. will co-host alongside Canada and Mexico. But Pochettino indicated he’s not bothered by the criticism.

“When there is a loss, there is a criticism and you have positive and negative critics, but you also have the constructive criticism. This is the one that we have to consider,” he said with the help of a translator.

“I understand the doubts, and that’s OK.”

Earlier this week, Pochettino sidestepped questions about the political rhetoric surrounding the tournament. Canada counterpart Jesse Marsch has been more outspoken, taking issue with comments from U.S. President Donald Trump about Canada becoming a “51st state.”

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s game, Marsch indicated he felt the rhetoric had subsided a bit, but could still be felt.

“The climate politically has calmed down, and there’s still the rhetoric out there about the 51st state, but I think people are becoming more numb to it than what they were a month ago during the Four Nations [hockey] tournament,” he said. “However, we are still very aware that there’s still a different climate than what there was even the last time we played the U.S. in September. So we will make sure that we know what that is.

“But more importantly, I think that the U.S., I’ve heard from the camp that they’re internally disappointed with their performance and then in the media here in the U.S., I think the media has been very aggressive about how disappointed they are in this team and now they’ve turned a little bit and put it toward the players. So we would be very foolish that if based on those two factors, we don’t expect a hard real game and a big response from the U.S. national team.”

Canada is recovering from a semifinal loss of its own following its 2-0 defeat to Mexico last Thursday. But Marsch expects his side to regroup quickly

“Our guys are excited about the challenge. The disappointment of the game against Mexico is behind us,” he said. “I think we know there’s some things that we can do better, but overall the performance was strong and our team continues to show that we are a good team and that we’re going to continue to get better.

“So that’s really our focus is to make sure that we understand exactly what the environment and situation is, exactly what the opponent is and what are the next steps for us to be at our best.”