{"id":641359,"date":"2026-04-30T21:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T21:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/641359\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T21:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T21:18:09","slug":"usmnts-mauricio-pochettino-says-nation-lacks-emotional-relationship-with-soccer-usa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/641359\/","title":{"rendered":"USMNT\u2019s Mauricio Pochettino says nation lacks \u2018emotional relationship\u2019 with soccer | USA"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a podcast appearance released Thursday, Mauricio Pochettino defended the tournament prospects of his US men\u2019s national team, but gave a mixed answer when asked if the hosts feel excitement brewing stateside, questioning the \u201cemotional relationship with the game<\/a>\u201d of the American public writ large.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids don\u2019t develop until they are 11, 12, or 13,\u201d Pochettino explained in his appearance on Stick To Football. \u201cThe difference within other countries \u2013 for me, I know Argentina \u2013 the way that I developed my emotional relationship with football is before I started to walk because I started to kick the ball. That is the problem. The relationship is with basketball or American football. They take the ball with their hands, first thing. [Elsewhere] you kick the ball with your feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pochettino went on to state that there should be greater emphasis on creating publicly accessible places for kids to play rather than funneling all development through clubs and organized teams. He cited playing with his friends as more foundational to his love of the game than what he learned in organized play. He brought this point up in response to a recent dinner he attended where apparently wealthy guests asked why a nation with so many people \u201cdoesn\u2019t have our own Messi\u201d.<\/p>\n

It was the latest of what\u2019s been an extended series of lengthy podcast stops since Pochettino took the US job. Most often, these interviews are conducted between windows and allow him to reflect openly on his club career at a relative point of hiatus as he readies what\u2019s next, as he is expected to leave the program when his contract ends after the World Cup.<\/p>\n

If Pochettino harbors any skepticism about his team\u2019s chances at a co-hosted World Cup, he has yet to show it. Stick to Football\u2019s Gary Neville reminded Pochettino that initial expectations were that reaching a quarter-final would mark success for the co-hosts. Pochettino acknowledged that that seems to be the media consensus, but offered an anecdote in defense of optimism.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I met Mr President [Donald Trump] before the draw in Washington, he asked me, \u2018Do you think, coach, that we can win?\u2019 I said of course \u2026 Why not? Why not! It\u2019s all about your belief. Look at Morocco in Qatar; no one believed. Look at South Korea in Japan. Semi-final, too. There\u2019s plenty of examples: if you put a limit and say maybe, for us, the message is to reach the quarter-final. You don\u2019t go through the group stage. All is possible in football.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a podcast appearance released Thursday, Mauricio Pochettino defended the tournament prospects of his US men\u2019s national team,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-641359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}