The behind-the-scenes story of Mauricio Pochettinos hire for USMNTs crack at World Cup glory
Less than two years out from what was long hoped to be a watershed moment — a World Cup on home soil advertised as the biggest sporting event in world history — the U.S.men’s national team was in deep trouble.The Americans had been bounced in the group stage from Copa America, the biggest competition they would play in during the run-up to the World Cup, also on home soil.
Gregg Berhalter — the coach they had controversially brought back for a second World Cup cycle — was inevitably fired.That meant the first two years of this cycle were, by some measures, a waste.And it meant that unless the U.S.
Soccer Federation nailed Berhalter’s replacement, it would be left holding the bag for a failure to capitalize on a once-in-a-generation opportunity.The man they ultimately hired, Mauricio Pochettino, was asked last week to reflect on why he wanted the job.“To be involved in a World Cup, it was my dream when I was a player,” said Pochettino, who played for his native Argentina in the 2002 World Cup after being one of the final cuts from the team in 1994 and 1998.“And after, you are a coach, it’s another dream that is in your head to one day be involved in the World Cup.”This is the story of how the 54-year-old Pochettino was hired.Less than a year earlier, after the U.S.
women’s team had crashed out of the 2023 World Cup in the Round of 16, the USSF responded by hiring Emma Hayes, widely regarded as the best women’s coach in the world.Now they needed to go out and get someone on the men’s side who could bring similar gravitas to the table.“I think a really important thing for us was making sure that this is a coaching staff who can lead our team in an incredibly high-profile moment, a World Cup at home,” federation CEO J.T.Batson told The Post.
“Having experience managing in high-pressure competitions and environments was certainly important.“They needed to be winners.They needed to have success.
They needed to have the ability to h...