Finally, and after almost a month of back-and-forth, this Tuesday the United States Soccer Federation made official the signing of Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino as its new coach, replacing his American colleague Gregg Berhalter.
Pochettino, an Argentine with a long reputation in Europe as a player and as a coach, directed Espanyol of Barcelona, Southampton, Tottenham, and Chelsea in the Premier League and Paris Saint-Germain of Ligue 1 in France with whom he won the League title in the 2021-2022 season, will seek to straighten the course that the Stars and Stripes team lost when it was eliminated in the first phase of the last Copa America 2024 where it served as host.
The new head coach of the U.S. national team arrives at a crucial time for the national team, seeking to boost the great human talent it has in its ranks with several players participating in the main European leagues led by its star Christian Pulisic of Milan in Italy’s Serie A.
Pochettino’s signing was made official after going through a series of negotiations with Chelsea and the American leaders themselves, before signing on Tuesday with the great task of putting the United States at the top of the world table in the next World Cup, which will be played in a tripartite format in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Commenting on the hiring of the new coach, US Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker said “Mauricio is a winner and a coach with a deep passion for developing players and has a proven ability to build competitive teams. His track record speaks for itself and I am confident that he is the best decision to take this talented group to the next level.”
Pochettino joins the United States national team after his time at Chelsea. The Argentine managed 51 games with the ‘Blues’ shirt and finished with a record of 27 wins, 10 draws and 14 losses.
“It was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down”, Pochettino
Regarding his signing, Mauricio Pochettino said that it was an opportunity he could not refuse, especially to try to make the team with so much support and so much potential, that it will be a privilege to try to build something special.
“The choice to join the US team was not just about soccer for me, it’s about the journey this team and this country are on. The opportunity to lead the United States national team in front of fans who are as passionate as the players is something I couldn’t turn down. I see a group of players bursting with talent and potential and together we’re going to build something special,” said the new US Soccer coach.
His career
Mauricio Pochettino’s career as a player has always been full of important events since the day that Marcelo Bielsa knocked on the door of his house in his native Murphy, in Santa Fe, Argentina, at the end of the 1980s, to take him to the youth teams of Newell’s Old Boys.
From there began a career that allowed him to defend the Argentine jersey at the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, participating in the three games against Nigeria, England, and Sweden, in the worst failure of the Argentine team in a FIFA World Cup under the controversial Marcelo Bielsa.
However, the almost ten years he wore the national shirt without interruption, from 1991 to 2002, gave him the support to design the character that would later put him on the bench of such prominent teams as Southampton, Tottenham, and Chelsea in the Premier League and then take Paris Saint Germain (PSG) to the top of the French Football League, as well as his debut as a strategist at RC Espanyol of Barcelona.
He managed 161 matches with the Spanish team, winning 53, drawing 38, and losing 70. From there he moved to Southampton in the Premier League, where he was in charge in 60 games, with 23 wins, 18 draws, and 19 losses.
He was then hired by Tottenham Hotspur where he managed 293 matches, of which he won 159, drew 62, and lost 72, numbers that allowed him to reach one of the teams with the greatest economic potential such as Paris Saint Germain of Ligue 1 of France where he managed 84 matches, with 55 wins, 15 draws, and 14 losses.
Finally, upon his return to the Premier League, he led Chelsea in 51 matches, of which he obtained 26 wins, 11 draws, and 14 losses, for a total as a strategist in Europe of 649 matches and of which he obtained 316 victories, 144 draws, and 189 losses.
