Mauricio Pochettino reveals disappointment in Donald Trump as USMNT World Cup pressure rises

 Mauricio Pochettino is already feeling the pressure from the most powerful man on the planet. President Donald Trump met FIFA president Gianni Infantino in the Oval Office and immediately asked: “Can America win the World Cup?”

It is a bit different from Pochettino’s days at Tottenham with chairman Daniel Levy applying the pressure or Todd Boehly wanting results at Chelsea. Pochettino laughed: “I was listening to a conversation between our President Trump and Gianni Infantino. The president asked: ‘Can we win the World Cup?’ And Gianni said yes.

“But I was disappointed with this answer. He should say: ‘You need to ask your great coach, Pochettino! Because for sure, he can give a better opinion.’ By the way, I think the pressure is going to be there, because we are a host. And then it's a country where the mentality is about winning. You know in sport, in everything that Americans are involved in, they want to win.

“That is the culture. It's cultural. Of course, it's going to be a pressure. But a welcome one. That means that we are going to feel the adrenaline that we need to feel.”

Former Tottenham and Chelsea boss Pochettino was appointed as United States boss last August and is now living the American dream. US Soccer is about to open a new National Training Centre in Atlanta which should help revolutionise the game ahead of next year’s World Cup which is being staged across America, Canada and Mexico.

There is always extra spotlight on the hosts and Pochettino is not scared of the pressure. In fact, Poch has turned it up by insisting that American wants to rule the soccer world within a decade.

Pochettino said: “The training centre will be a huge boost. Of course the World Cup is going to be amazing. But to have your house in one city is going to be amazing. From there, you start it’s going to be possible.

“If you go to America, you look at the training centres of the NFL, baseball and you say: ‘wow!’ Soccer? ‘No, we don’t have.’ Where is the soccer team going to train? ‘Well, we need to ask the college teams, universities.’ That is important.

“We need to congratulate the federation, all the donors involved who are helping to grow the sport because it’s No1 in the world because in five or ten years, for sure we can be No1 in the world. It could be.”

Pochettino left Chelsea at the end of last season having galvanized a divided dressing room and laid the foundations for a club now pushing for the Champions League this term. Therefore, it was a surprise that Pochettino - who turned 53 earlier this month - moved into international management. But while he admits he misses the day-to-day coaching, he is enjoying his new role even if he will go back to club management one day.

Pochettino said: “It was a moment when the right project arrived with the right national team. After Chelsea, the offer arrived from the USA and we were already paying attention. Not because they won the World Cup because only eight countries have won the World Cup in history.

“We are talking about three from South America, Brazil Uruguay and Argentina, and five I think if I’m not wrong… Spain, France, Germany, England and Italy. Only eight. And it’s great because we’re going to host the World Cup, for us also to know better as a coaching staff to work in a different way … we need to motivate the players in a few days, we need to decide the strategy, the tactics.”

Pochettino still has a house in London, together with his assistant Jesus Perez is always scouting and on the move, but is based in the States. He gets recognised but, like most of us, does not get special treatment when it comes to the passport queue.

He added: “They didn’t give me the green card! We are waiting. The last time in Los Angeles we were waiting one hour and a half in the queue! I am not complaining, because if I complain, they are going to kill me! I am not complaining but I cannot feel this status. I will feel it if one day they give me the green card.”