Mauricio Pochettino says US men's players should aspire to achieve like women

Mauricio Pochettino began his tenure as U.S. men's national soccer team coach by saying his players should aspire to achieve as much as the American women.

"We are here because we want to win," he said Friday at a 48-minute introductory news conference after agreeing to a contract through the 2026 World Cup. "We are winners. We are going to compete, and compete is completely different than to play. ... We have many examples next to us we need to follow."

While the U.S. men haven't reached the World Cup quarterfinals since 2002 and have never won the sport's top tournament, the American women have won four World Cups and five Olympic gold medals.

"We need to believe that we can win, that we can win all our games, that we can win the World Cup," he said.

A 52-year-old Argentine, Pochettino will be coaching a national team for the first time, becoming the 10th U.S. coach in 14 years and its first foreign-born leader since Jürgen Klinsmann from 2011-16. He was hired to replace Gregg Berhalter, who was fired from his second term on July 10, a week after the U.S. was eliminated in the first round of the Copa América.

Emma Hayes, who managed at Chelsea before becoming U.S. women's coach this year, helped recruit her former club colleague.

"I didn't need to ask," he said. "She explained everything."

Hayes led her first practice on May 28 and led the Americans to an Olympic gold medal 74 days later.

Wearing a dark jacket, white dress shirt with no tie and a pocket square, Pochettino was flanked by U.S. Soccer Federation President Cindy Parlow Cone, CEO JT Batson and sporting director Matt Crocker, who knew Pochettino from their time together at Southampton a decade ago.

"I was teasing Poch that it only took Emma two months to win