Preparations for the U.S. Men’s National Team’s Concacaf Gold Cup semifinal match were briefly disrupted when an unidentified drone was spotted flying near the team’s training grounds in St. Louis.
According to CBS Sports, the flying object appeared to be operated by an unknown party and was not part of the U.S. Soccer Federation’s official training setup. The federation had already deployed three authorized drones for filming purposes during the session.
U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino addressed the incident lightheartedly.
“If someone want some clips we can send. It’s not a problem,” he said. “We are not going to hide nothing. It’s not the NASA here. It is the national – men’s national team. No problem.”
The unauthorized drone eventually landed outside the fenced perimeter of the training facility. Meanwhile, ESPN reported that U.S. Soccer staff are attempting to identify its operator.
The aerial incident wasn’t the only security concern. A group of individuals was reportedly asked to stop what appeared to be unauthorized filming of the session. It’s unclear whether the two events were connected.
The U.S. team went on to reach the tournament final, where it succumbed to a 2-1 defeat by Mexico.
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Post Image Credit: Gabriel Mihalcea via Unsplash
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