Seattle (AFP) – US coach Mauricio Pochettino backed his “high IQ” players not to get carried away after they secured progress to the World Cup knockouts with Friday’s win over Australia and sent fans’ hopes soaring. Thanks to an own goal and an Alex Freeman header, the US have reached the last-32 of the tournament they are co-hosting with a game to spare, winning two group matches for the first time since 1930.
The already-surging hype surrounding the US team’s prospects among the American public sky-rocketed following the 2-0 win over the Socceroos in front of a jubilant crowd in Seattle. Pochettino’s men could be assured of top place in Group D in just a few hours’ time if other results go their way, but the manager said he trusts his team not to treat next week’s Turkey clash any differently.
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“We need to go for the next one. To be sure that we are going to arrive in good condition, like we arrived in the last two games,” said Pochettino. His players and staff need to “keep being very tough with ourselves, to push to be better and better every day,” he added. Pochettino, whose stellar career includes leading Tottenham Hotspur to a Champions League final and managing the likes of Lionel Messi and Neymar at Paris Saint-Germain, said his players have the footballing nous to not let standards slip.
“That is part of being intelligent… For me, the IQ of the players that I have in my squad, they are so high over the average,” he said. If Turkey do not beat Paraguay later on Friday, the US will be guaranteed top spot in Group D, and a theoretically easier route into the knockout rounds. The US still have to play Turkey in a group game next week.
Pochettino did not rule out making changes to his team for that clash. “We had a lot of fatigued bodies in the first half both physically and mentally,” he said. “I think it’s too early to talk about our decision against Turkey… If we want to win and we want to be one of the good teams, dreaming big, I think we need to talk about the team and not the (individual) names.”
As his players took a victory lap around the field, the fans sang along to “Livin’ on a Prayer,” and many will now be dreaming of a deep run into the World Cup that would defy most pundits’ expectations in a tournament stacked with favorites like Spain, France, and Argentina. Pochettino himself has dared fans to dream of winning the World Cup, repeatedly asking “Why not us?” in press conferences.
The Argentinian coach paid tribute to Friday’s crowd, comparing it to the football-mad country of his birth. “Amazing. I was saying yesterday Argentina have amazing fans but I think we are matching Argentina,” he said. “Our fans, I’m so happy for them.”
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