U.S. Men’s National Team coach Mauricio Pochettino said on Friday that Son Heung-Min’s arrival in Major League Soccer will lift the league’s profile and level of play.
“It is going to be an amazing opportunity to see each other. We really love each other. He was one of the most important players in my tenure in Tottenham… After 10 years, he’s a legend. He is one of the best players in the world. He is an amazing player, but he’s an amazing person,” Pochettino told reporters.
“With the addition of Son, the level is growing… for sure, the interest in the rest of the world in the MLS is higher than before. Even that was very attractive, now with players arriving like Son, makes it more attractive,” he added.
On his squad, he said: “All the players that were here in the World Cup and the new faces, they integrate very well… We have tomorrow a very good game. I think South Korea is a very good team, a good challenge for us. The challenge for us is to arrive in the best condition to the World Cup, and to give options to different players that maybe didn’t play before.”
In June, Pochettino said players cannot pick and choose which games they will be available for, after forward Christian Pulisic skipped the CONCACAF Gold Cup but offered to play in a pair of friendlies.
Pulisic, who played 50 games for AC Milan in the recently concluded season, said he would miss the Gold Cup to rest and recover, with former U.S. stalwarts Landon Donovan and Alexi Lalas among those who criticised the decision.
Pulisic told the CBS Sports podcast in June that he had asked to play in friendlies against Turkey and Switzerland, but was not involved in those matches because Pochettino wanted a consistent squad heading into the Gold Cup.
The AC Milan winger said he did not understand the head coach’s decision, while adding that those questioning his commitment to the national team were “way out of line.”
On Friday, Pochettino said his issue with Pulisic is “in the past. We all make mistakes sometimes… Christian is happy to be here. Of course he’s an important player for us. The mood is good, the atmosphere is good.”
Tottenham Hotspur’s long-serving executive chairman Daniel Levy is stepping down from his role after nearly 25 years, the Premier League club announced on Thursday (September 4).
Levy, known for his tough negotiating style, has often been a source of frustration for fans who blame him for failing to pay the wages that would deliver players capable of delivering Tottenham’s first English top-flight title since 1961.
Pochettino said he was “a little bit in shock” over Levy, “because he was my former president… I don’t have more information and only what I want to say – I wish him the best in his life, family, time. My relationship was always very good.”
Defender Sergiño Dest, back from injury, told reporters on Friday that he was “still getting stronger, stronger and stronger, so I feel better and better.”
On his red card, Dest said it “was not good, but I learned from that… I will make sure that these things don’t happen again.”
The U.S. face South Korea in a friendly on Saturday (September 6) as they continue preparations for the 2026 World Cup.
(Production: Hussein Al Waaile, Roselle Chen)
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