While fans from both teams are fighting an intense battle on social media, technical director Mauricio Pochettino sparked the controversy by openly assuring that it gives him exactly the same to face the Mexican team than to measure against combined players such as Canada, Chile or Peru.
The Argentine bar and star colonel cooled his spirits at the press conference prior to the match's 80th match, arguing that it is extremely complicated for him to assimilate this historic antagonism and that his only competitive engine is to win for his own team.
Mauricio Pochettino’s words about Mexico vs. the United States, where he claimed it was difficult for him to find rivalry with the Mexican national team. “RAFA HAS HAVED GOOD MASTERS, WILL HAVE GOOD MASTERS IN MEXICO”#FSRadioMX pic.twitter.com/B0hj6sysSH
The South American strategist was tactful in pointing out that he does not find that profound rivalry on the playing field, although he recognized that he perfectly understands the disease generated because they are neighboring countries that share too many things in common, both in culture and geography.
For Pochettino, the real rivalries by territorial proximity resemble more the historic South American clashes such as Argentina against Uruguay or the classic against Brazil, restating a special weight to the battles of the Concacaf and focusing only on the functioning of his powerful team.
Despite his cold tactical statements, the coach clarified that Mexican football only generates positive sensations in the professional field, recalling with special affection his stage in the Spanish football, where he directed the Sinaloan defender Héctor Moreno in the ranks of the Espanyol of Barcelona.
Finally, the U.S. team colonel insisted that he respects the colorful folklore that envelopes these commitments of pride and accepted that it is necessary to feed that passion, so his motivation on the field of the State Farm Stadium in Glendale will be merely the development of the game.
At the end of Mauricio Pochettino’s conference this Friday, he had time to play with Héctor Moreno, whom he directed at Barcelona’s Espanyol in his early days as DT. pic.twitter.com/aUvOlBJOLQ
The cold and intelligent strategic stance raised from the U.S. bench will be tested on Saturday, October 3 at 20:00, exactly when both national squads will face in Arizona to write an unprecedented chapter in their history.
