Pochettino: USA men must aim to match women, win World Cup - ESPN

Mauricio Pochettino began his tenure as United States men's national team coach 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 his introductory news conference. «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 we can win the World Cup,» he said.

Pochettino said his reasons for taking the reins as the manager of the U.S. men's national team were «too many» to name, but when asked to distill them into one sentence, that was the one he settled: «We believe.»

"'Believe' for me, it's a word that is so powerful," Pochettino said. «You can have an enormous talent and you can be clever. In football, you need to believe that it's possible. [If] we find the way together, I think for sure we'll achieve.»

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 Jurgen Klinsmann from 2011 to 2016. He was hired to replace Gregg Berhalter, who was fired from his second term on July 10, a week after the Americans were eliminated in the first round of the Copa América.

Emma Hayes, who coached at Chelsea before becoming the United States women's team coach this year, helped recruit her former club colleague.

«I didn't need to ask. She explained everything,» Pochettino said.

Wearing a dark jacket, a white dress shirt with no tie and a pocket square, Pochettino was flanked by U.S. Soccer Federation president Cindy Parlow Cone, CEO