Neal: Controversy aside, the U.S. team that won in U.S. Bank Stadium is the right group for the Gold Cup

The young United States men’s soccer players on Sunday experienced nearly every scenario. They showed they can come back from a goal down, then take a lead. They experienced what it is like to blow a lead, as Costa Rica made them pay with a tying goal in the 71st minute.

They also endured a wild penalty kick war, as goalkeeper Matt Freese squared off with Keylor Navas, once a world-class goalkeeper now 38 years old.

Freese stopped three Ticos shots — former Loons player Francisco Calvo’s attempt was weak, the other two were saved splendidly. And the U.S. won 4-3 on penalty kicks in front of an announced crowd of 32,289 to advance to the Gold Cup semifinals for the 17th time in 18 tournaments.

They will face Guatemala, a shock winner over Canada following penalty kicks in the other quarterfinal Sunday. Guatemala had the largest, and loudest, fan base at U.S. Bank Stadium.

So gracias, Los Chapines! The U.S. avoided a game against a Canada team that was the tournament favorite while allowing the Loons to get Dayne St. Clair and Tani Oluwaseyi back in time for their Friday game at Dallas.

When the game went to penalty kicks, I was having flashbacks to July 4, 1994, when I covered the U.S.-Brazil game in the knockout stage of the World Cup. Several Brazilian reporters entered the media section wearing jerseys and began cheering when Brazil did something worthy of it.

On Sunday, Costa Rican media sat in the row in front of me and cheered loudly when Alonso Martinez tied the game late. They stood and cheered when Sebastian Berhalter sailed his penalty kick and more when John Tolkin’s was stopped by Navas.

They were silenced for good when Damion Downs caught Navas going the wrong way and scored on the final penalty kick of the night.

We should come to two conclusions following Sunday’s events.

One, those media folks who were in front of me can stuff it.

Two, these are the right players for Mauricio Pochettino to lead in this tournament.

A lot has been made about the stalwarts who are not with the team because of injuries, Club World Cup commitments or because they needed a break. Those seeds sprouted a narrative that poor Team USA won’t be properly prepared for next year’s expanded World Cup, during which 78 games will be held mostly in the United States with 13 games each in Mexico and Canada.

Preposterous.

There is no guarantee that if Christian Pulisic, Timothy Weah, Weston McKennie and others play every possible game between now and next June that the U.S. will be a juggernaut. There will be plenty of training sessions and a few games to get players in form for the tournament.

We also can’t identify the best 23 players because form will fluctuate between now and then. And some players will develop. Ricardo Pepi could get healthy and score 25 goals for PSV Eindhoven next season. The Atletico Madrid-bound Johnny Cardoso could finally bring his club success to the national team. Someone from Europe could have a big season and force his way up the pecking order.

And I couldn’t care less about the Gold Cup. The two tournaments where it’s all hands on deck should be the World Cup and Copa America — and, yes, we should enter every Copa America. Perfect attendance is not needed for the Nations League, and the MLS All-Stars, with a few players based with foreign clubs, can chase Gold Cup glory.

Pochettino’s players in this tournament, by the way, are not placeholders. They are gaining his trust.

“They show today, great character,” Pochettino said. “I think it is good for this group of players to have this experience.”

We knew little about Freese before the Gold Cup, but he’s showing he’s capable of unseating Matt Turner as the No. 1 keeper. Diego Luna scored the first U.S. goal Sunday and plays the game with the passion and intensity his coach desires. Malik Tillman missed a penalty kick in the first half, but his intelligent pass in the second half set up Max Arfsten’s go-ahead goal. Tillman got another chance when the game went to penalty kicks and made no mistake.

As of now, I would have Luna and Tillman on my World Cup team, and Freese would be in goal. But a lot can happen between now and next June.

These players are giving Pochettino something to think about, and those in attendance Sunday saw how they can handle stressful situations.