Atlanta (AFP) – US soccer coach Mauricio Pochettino on Friday urged his team to play with freedom and not to fear the pressures and expectations that come with co-hosting this summer’s World Cup. Hopes are high for Team USA, which co-hosts alongside Mexico and Canada, and boasts a strong squad of players from top European leagues, including AC Milan’s Christian Pulisic and Juventus star Weston McKennie.
Pochettino, speaking ahead of the USA’s friendly with Belgium on Saturday, encouraged his players to draw on the example of other American sports like the NFL and basketball, which he binged on when he was first appointed to the job in 2024. “The thing that I really enjoyed was that all the athletes that were involved in different sports, they play free — trying to perform and to entertain,” he said. “When you are free, you perform. When you feel happy, you perform. You don’t need to feel the pressure,” said Pochettino.
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Pochettino drew a stark contrast with his own experiences as a player in the 2002 World Cup. Argentina entered that tournament in Japan and South Korea among the favorites but crashed out in the group stage. “Pressure is a thing that, if you don’t deal perfectly with this, can be heavy,” said Pochettino. “Argentine people felt the pressure…It was really an energy that was so heavy, and we didn’t deal with that.”
The US is guaranteed to play all games on home soil at the World Cup, which begins on June 11. Pochettino’s men have been handed a relatively favorable group featuring Paraguay, Australia, and either Turkey or Kosovo. They will prepare with a pair of friendlies against top European opposition, starting with Belgium and three days later against Portugal in Atlanta.
Speaking to reporters after a training session, Pochettino revealed central defenders Chris Richards and Miles Robinson have been ruled out of the friendlies with injury. They join the likes of influential midfielders Tyler Adams and Diego Luna on the sidelines. But the roster’s biggest names, including Pulisic and McKennie, are set to play, and echoed their coach on coping with the growing expectations.
“We all chose to be professional soccer players, and being competitive, having pressure, is something that you live with day in and day out,” McKennie told AFP. “So I don’t think we really feel a big pressure. I think we kind of invite that. We kind of like it.” Pulisic, who has long been held up as a poster boy for US soccer, said he has deleted social media from his phone and tries to avoid the growing expectations. “I’m just kind of oblivious to it,” he said. “You guys want me to feel the pressure, that’s for sure!” he joked when repeatedly questioned by journalists. “There’s pressure — it’s a World Cup. It’s not because of my position in the team or anything. I’m used to this.”
Despite the bullish words, a strong performance by the US team is seen as crucial for building on soccer’s recent explosion in popularity across North America. The US has not reached a World Cup semi-finals since 1930. And while reaching that stage again would be above and beyond most expectations, the co-hosts are no longer the underdogs they once were.
Pochettino said he was wary of being seen as arrogant if he predicted his team can win the tournament, or of being overly negative by ruling it out. “I am here because I believe that we can win,” he said. “And what I can tell to the people is really believe. That that happens or not happen? (There are) too many factors in the middle.”
© 2024 AFP
