Mauricio Pochettino and the US Soccer Federation are working toward a deal for him to become the men’s national team coach, a person familiar with the negotiations told reporters on Thursday.
Pochettino, the former Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain coach, has agreed to take over as the US coach, but the deal is not complete, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the agreement was not finalized.
Pochettino would succeed Gregg Berhalter less than 22 months before the US hosts the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Photo: AFP
The US federation declined to comment.
Pochettino would become the first foreign-born coach to head the US since Jurgen Klinsmann from 2011 to 2016. The Argentine has coached RCD Espanyol in Spain (2009-2012); Southampton (2013-2014), Tottenham (2014-2019) and Chelsea (2023-2024) in England; and Paris Saint-Germain (2021-2022) in France, leaving after winning a Ligue 1 title.
Matt Crocker, the US federation’s sporting director in charge of the search, was Southampton’s academy director when Pochettino started at that club.
The US have four friendlies upcoming, against Canada on Sept. 7, New Zealand three days later, Panama on Oct. 12 and on Oct. 15 against an opponent yet to be determined.
The next competitive matches are a two-leg CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final in November.
Mikey Varas, a Berhalter assistant, could be in charge of the team for the September games and Pochettino could take over for the October matches.
Berhalter was fired on July 10, a week after the US were eliminated in the first round of the Copa America.
He was hired in December 2018, was allowed to leave when his contract expired following a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands in the second round of the 2022 World Cup.
He was rehired in June last year to return in September.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS