The Argentine coach chosen a year and a half ago to unite America with soccer focuses heavily on mental preparation and team spirit: “Why not us?” is his mantra
Appearing with a lively quiff and a Latin accent in the belly of the boundless SoFi Stadium, Mauricio Pochettino launched his own global manifesto, just on the eve of his debut with Paraguay here in Los Angeles: “We must go back to being children, play without pressure”. A bit of sacrosanct lightness in a world of unsustainable heaviness: it accompanied every meter of the approach to the tournament, between controversies over out-of-control tickets and blockades at the borders, and does not make the path easy for the US national team itself. The coach chosen a year and a half ago to change and unite America, at least that of soccer, still has his own code: there will be time to talk about tactics and who to put next to Pulisic in the backcourt, better to explore the geography of emotions, talk about mental preparation, team spirit, everything that can be useful in the most unthinkable challenge of life. In fact, the path that brought Pochettino to the United States bench was certainly not linear: at 54 years old, after the Champions League near miss with Tottenham and the steps backwards in other major players on the continent, first PSG and then Chelsea, both contradictory experiences, the Argentine who is on Cardinale’s list for the Milan bench finds himself leading a national team that does not yet belong to the highest nobility, but which would very much like to enter the elite salon after this summer.