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New U.S. men’s national team head coach, Mauricio Pochettino, held his first press conference since being officially announced into the USMNT’s bench on Tuesday.
The Argentine spoke about what it’ll take from his coaching staff to lead the team into the hosting of the 2026 World Cup, their aspirations to become as successful as the USWNT as been with Emma Hayes and much more.
A proven winner throughout his career, welcome Mauricio Pochettino to the #USMNT sideline.
— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) September 12, 2024
Throughout the press conference, however, fans watching and reacting from home found interesting similarities between the former Chelsea FC coach and America’s most beloved soccer personality: Ted Lasso. It all starts with ‘believe.’
Fans find hilarious similarities between Pochettino and Ted Lasso in first USMNT press conference
Pochettino is bound to be the USMNT’s Ted Lasso (well, kinda).
During Pochettino’s first-ever press conference as the official USMNT head coach, the 52-year-old manager repeatedly mentioned the word “believe” — a word frequently used by Jason Sudeikis’ character (Ted Lasso) in the Ted Lasso TV show series.
The popular sports comedy — arguably one of the biggest shows on Apple TV this decade — has transcended the world of television, now making its way onto the U.S. men’s national team fandom in Pochettino’s first appearance as head coach.
The Argentine, in retrospect to the previous U.S. men’s manager, said the USMNT must believe that they can win not only games in the World Cup, but the whole competition.
“We have time [before the World Cup] We need to believe we can win and not just win a game, but to win the World Cup. We want the players to arrive on day one thinking big,” said the former PSG manager.
Pochettino then went on to repeat the importance of the word, saying it’s one of the most powerful words in the sport of soccer.
"We need to believe that we can win."
Pochettino is thinking big ahead of 2026 ️ pic.twitter.com/wXV4MtYdkB— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) September 13, 2024
“’Believe’ for me is a word that is so powerful. You can have enormous talent, but in football, you need to believe. Believe that all is possible. If we find a way to believe all together, then we can achieve what we want,” he said.
This “believe” repetition from the new boss sent USMNT Twitter (X) into a frenzy, with almost every user replying to posts related to Pochettino with pictures, videos, gifs and comments about Ted Lasso.
️ Mauricio Pochettino: “We need to believe we can win. Not win just a game, but to win the World Cup.” pic.twitter.com/lFa3OZgZBY
— USMNTvsHaters (@USMNTvsHaters) September 13, 2024
big mood pic.twitter.com/OTMSsZr0YH
— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) September 13, 2024
So we did hire Ted Lasso
— Kevin From Charlotte (@kevclt) September 13, 2024
— SportingJake (@SirTurbo2023) September 13, 2024
Ted Lasso playbook… I‘ll take it
— Toxic ⚽️ (@MaximusSeattle) September 13, 2024
‘Poch’ is off to a fantastic start, if you ask us.
The new “USMNT belief system” will take flight next October when Mauricio Pochettino and his coaching staff take on their first set of matches with the U.S. men’s national team. They will face Panama and Mexico on Oct. 12 and Oct. 15, respectively.
