Mauricio Pochettino urged his players to believe they can win the World Cup after being unveiled as the new manager of the United States national team. The former Chelsea boss took questions at his first press conference on Friday, having been appointed to replace Gregg Berhalter.
Pochettino has signed a two-year contract with the USA, meaning he will lead them into a home World Cup in 2026. They will almost certainly be happy just to make it out of the group stages but Pochettino wants his players to set their expectations to the very highest level.
“Everyone thinks that there is no time to prepare,” he said. “I’m on the opposite side, I believe there is enough time. I don’t want to create an excuse for players to think there isn’t enough time and have reasons not to perform.
“We have time. We need to believe we can win and not just win a game, but to win the World Cup. We want the players to arrive on day one thinking big.”
If the USA can pull off the unthinkable and win the World Cup in 2026, it would undoubtedly be the biggest shock in football history. They are currently ranked 16th by FIFA, behind the likes of Colombia, Morocco and Switzerland, and were knocked out of this year’s Copa America in the group stages.
Earlier in the press conference, Pochettino was praised by US Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone after remembering to refer to football as soccer. He did not need to be reminded about the alternative name of the sport, which is used to avoid confusion with American football.
Pochettino also confirmed that he was house-hunting in the USA but explained that he would be spending plenty of time in Europe to build relationships with clubs and players.
“The idea is to live here in the United States but we’ll be in between Europe and the United States,” he said. “I need to create links with the ream but for now, it requires to be there with the coaching staff working around the world.
“The plan is to build relationships with the clubs and show players that we support them.”
Asked to explain how he will approach his new role, Pochettino revealed he would be looking to improve fitness levels within the squad and ensure they play on the front foot where possible.
“The most important thing is to see the potential in the players which we have,” he said. “We need to run, we need to move and we need have options and create good angles. We want to create the best platform for them to express themselves.”
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