Marietta, March 28: Mauricio Pochettino told American soccer players they can achieve what almost no one thinks is possible: win the World Cup.
“Why not us? Why not us? Why not us?” he said Friday. “We need to really believe that we can be there. We need to dream.” Ahead of friendlies against Belgium on Saturday and Portugal on Tuesday, Pochettino publicly repeated a message he delivered directly to players when they reported to camp this week.
“Dreams,” he added, “inspire reality.”The U.S. hasn’t reached the World Cup semifinals since the initial tournament in 1930 and hasn’t advanced to the quarterfinals since 2002. Since then, the Americans were knocked out in the round of 16 in 2010, 2014 and 2022, were eliminated in the group stage in 2006 and failed to qualify in 2018.Only eight nations have won a World Cup: Brazil (five titles), Germany and Italy (four each), Argentina (three), France and Uruguay (two apiece), and England and Spain (one each).Pochettino, a former Argentina national team defender who replaced Gregg Berhalter as U.S. coach in late 2024, cited American mentality as cause for optimism. (PTI)
