Irvine (United States) (AFP) – Two days before the United States’ first World Cup game, coach Mauricio Pochettino only took questions from one intrepid reporter — and it was Sesame Street’s Grover. “Have you ever tried to motivate the team with snacks?” The manager gamely played along, even if he appeared slightly perplexed to be chatting with a fluffy blue monster puppet, yards away from where his team were beginning a critical training session.
If the interview content was not exactly hard-hitting, the broader strategy was clear. The co-hosts are pulling out all the stops to win over fans, who may be needed to energize players in the days ahead. Earlier this week, Argentinian coach Pochettino kicked off a public training session by grabbing the microphone and leading 5,500 fans in “USA! USA” chants at the team’s training base in Irvine, California. “For the players it is so, so, so amazing and so important to receive your warm energy and all your love,” he instructed supporters. “I think they need to introduce all this energy that you are going to send today, and share with us after on the pitch, on the field, to perform.”
Related news
Other unorthodox efforts to reach Americans who don’t always follow soccer this week included a fashion photoshoot with Flaunt magazine, featuring midfielder Malik Tillman in a vast mushroom-shaped couture hat. “It’s been sent around the group chat a few times…there’s some questionable pictures!” defender Chris Richards told reporters Wednesday, with a laugh. “Ultimately it’s about exposure. I’m always up for expressing ourselves in different ways,” added fellow center-back Mark McKenzie. Commercial obligations aside, courting the American public could deliver marginal gains that may be useful as the US tackle a fiercely competitive Group D including Friday’s opening opponents Paraguay, Australia, and Turkey.
– ‘U.S.Against the World’ –
Though the US would be assured of playing every game on their own soil if they progress to the knockouts, raucous home support has not always been guaranteed for the team, whose fans are often outnumbered by away fans due to the country’s enormous immigrant and diaspora communities. In the Gold Cup final last year, the US lost in a Houston stadium overwhelmingly packed with rival Mexico fans. The semi-final in St Louis, Missouri, was a sea of light blue for their opponents Guatemala. Rand Getlin, the documentary filmmaker who spent four years following the US team for HBO series “U.S.Against the World,” recently told AFP it is a huge concern for American players. “It devastates them. It hurts them. It makes them sad. They’re disappointed in themselves for not giving fans more to cheer for,” said Getlin.
Though some high-priced tickets for the US games remain unsold, the excitement has grown markedly more palpable in Los Angeles in recent days, with bars and billboards promoting watch parties to customers already wearing their favored teams’ kits. Whoever lies in wait in the last-32 round and beyond, the American players have talked frequently this week about drawing on the energy of home fans. “Being on home soil, number one, it’s a dream come true,” US winger Timothy Weah told reporters Wednesday. “Obviously there’s gonna be pressure because you’re the host and your fans want to see you shine. I think that makes it only more beautiful.”
Pochettino echoed those words, suggesting that fans could be an even more powerful tool for motivating his players than Grover’s suggestion — which was “chocolate cake.” “I think (our) massive inspiration is to make proud our fans, our families, the people that we love,” he said.
© 2024 AFP
