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New United States national team coach Mauricio Pochettino says his squad needs to set themselves the highest goal possible -- to win the World Cup.

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Agence France-Presse

<div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="3068671"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script><p>NEW YORK -- New United States national team coach Mauricio Pochettino says his squad needs to set themselves the highest goal possible -- to win the World Cup.</p><p>The Argentine, a former Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain coach, was unveiled to the media on Friday after signing his deal this week.</p><p>The USA is co-hosting the 2026 World Cup with Mexico and Canada and Pochettino said he believes the target should galvanize the players.</p><p>&quot;We need to believe we can win. Not win just a game, but to win the World Cup. We want players to arrive on day one thinking big,&quot; he said.</p><p>The USA&#x27;s best finish in a modern World Cup was a run to the quarter-finals in South Korea and Japan in 2002. The country finished third in the inaugural tournament in 1930.</p><p>&quot;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,&quot; he added.</p><p>Pochettino said his team should draw inspiration from the US women&#x27;s team which recently won Olympic gold under English coach Emma Hayes, who Pochettino knows from his time at Chelsea.</p><p>&quot;One of the most important things we need to aspire to is the women&#x27;s team. We have Emma, for me, the best coach in the world. They have won everything in the history and we need to match that,&quot; he said.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/8/11/swanson-strike-hands-usa-womens-football-gold-against-brazil-1352">READ: Swanson strike hands USA women&#x27;s football gold against Brazil</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/9/9/us-soccer-great-morgan-bids-farewell-in-final-match-1215">READ: US soccer great Morgan bids farewell in final match</a></div><p>The US Soccer Federation turned to Pochettino after sacking coach Gregg Berhalter following a poor showing in June&#x27;s Copa America.</p><p>With no qualifiers for the host nation, the only competitive games for the USA will come in CONCACAF&#x27;s regional Nations League and Gold Cup tournament.</p><div><strong>- &#x27;New philosophy&#x27; -</strong></div><p>The coach, who most recently worked at Chelsea, has less than two years to turn around the fortunes of a team which has won just one of their last seven games but he believes that he can do it.</p><p>&quot;I think everyone thinks that there is no time to prepare and arrive in condition (to win) at the World Cup. I am on the opposite side, [I] believe there is enough time,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;We can&#x27;t use this as an excuse, I don&#x27;t want to create an excuse of the players to say, &#x27;we don&#x27;t have time to buy the new idea, the new philosophy&#x27;.&quot;</p><p>He said he wanted to build a team that played attractive and attacking football and was sure his players would be ready to change.</p><p>&quot;I think the players are so intelligent and so talented and they can, I think, play in a different way. We have time and we need to believe in really big things,&quot; he added.</p><p>Pochettino also made clear he would have a completely open mind towards team selection.</p><p>&quot;To every single player that is around the world, we are going to try to pay attention. They have the door open...if they perform we are going to be there watching,&quot; he said.</p><p>The 52-year-old former Argentina international defender said that the job appealed to him, among other reasons, because it was a different challenge.</p><p>&quot;As a staff we&#x27;ve had a lot of experience as coaches already in different clubs. This is a challenge that takes us out of our comfort zone, not only to achieve things together but to refresh ourselves in a soccer that for us was always attractive from afar,&quot; he said.</p><p>His first task will be to select a squad for two friendly matches in October.</p><p>Pochettino&#x27;s first game is against Panama, who beat the USA in the Copa America, in Austin on October 12 before taking on arch-rivals Mexico in Guadalajara three days later.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div>

<p>New United States national team coach Mauricio Pochettino says his squad needs to set themselves the highest goal possible -- to win the World Cup.</p>

Pochettino sets USA target of winning the World Cup

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Pochettino sets USA target of winning the World Cup

Agence France-Presse

Published Sep 14, 2024 10:52 AM PHT

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US Men's National Football Team

Mauricio Pochettino

Emma Hayes

USWNT

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