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Former Tottenham and current USMNT skipper Mauricio Pochettino is a magician. He has a proven track record of being able to make miracles happen without much to work with, I watched him do it when Lucas Moura scored a hat trick against Ajax in the 2019 Champions League to keep Tottenham’s dream alive and mount a comeback nobody could have foreseen.
As the current manager of the United States Men’s National Team, Mauricio Pochettino has an immense task ahead of him: get through the Group State and push the host nation’s squad deep into the World Cup knockout rounds.
Mauricio Pochettino Believes The USMNT Can Go Deep In The World Cup
In a recent interview with the French daily paper L’Equipe, Pochettino spelled out why he think the current USMNT squad has what it takes to wow the world. Beacuse if we’re being honest, the rest of the world not only expects us to fail they also revel in our failure every time it happens on the world stage. But as the host nation, we’ve got extra skin in the game this time around.
At the crux of Pochettino’s belief in the USMNT‘s chances is chaos. Rarely if ever do things happen as they should in sports, especially in Soccer.
Poch had this to say:
“In football, logic rarely holds. There are no mathematical equations to predict a result. That’s also why it’s the most beautiful sport in the world — because it can be unjust. It’s about being competitive, but also mastering the emotional factors. It’s a good blend of the logical and the illogical, the rational and the irrational.”
“Starting from the principle that we have a quality group with a strong mentality and the support of the home crowd, everything is in place to generate positive energy and attempt what South Korea and Morocco achieved in 2002 and 2022.”
Firstly, I’m ready to run through a brick wall at the thought of the USMNT getting through to the quarter or semifinals of the World Cup. Secondly, we are much better than South Korea or Morocco and it’s not even close.
This is the deepest USMNT squad ever assembled with the most international experience and, at least over the past six months, fewer distractions than in years past. All of the recent drama seems to have dissipated and this squad is locked in.
As things stand, the USMNT will face Paraguay at 9pm on June 12th, Australia on June 19 at 3pm, and a yet-to-be-named team on June 25th. Taking down Paraguay and Australia should be easy enough.
Leading up to the World Cup, the USMNT has friendly matches against Belgium on March 28th, Portugal on March 31st, Senegal on May 31st, and our final tune up before the World Cup will come against Ze Germans on June 6th.
Will Mauricio Pochettino have the USMNT squad firing on all cylinders by mid-June? Let’s pray to our lucky stars and stripes that he does.
Currently, the UMSNT are +330 to reach the quarter finals. They are +1100 to make it to the semifinals. And the Men’s National Team are +2500 to make it to the Finals. Those numbers are, of course, reflecting the sportsbooks wanting to protect themselves against Americans backing the home team.