Wednesday, September 11, 2024

22 THE STAR SPORTS • Wednesday, September 11, 2024 @JamaicaStar www.facebook.com/JamaicaStar • www.jamaica-star.com F ormer Tottenham and Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino was hired yesterday to succeed Gregg Berhalter as US men’s national team coach, 21 months before the Americans host the 2026 World Cup. A 52-year-old Argentine, Pochettino became the 10th US coach in 14 years and their first foreign-born leader since Jurgen Klinsmann from 2011-16. Pochettino has coached Espanyol in Spain (2009-12), Southampton (2013-14), Tottenham (2014-19) and Chelsea (2023- 24) in England and Paris Saint-Germain in France (2021-22), leaving after winning a Ligue 1 title. “It’s about the journey that this team and this country are on,” Pochettino said in a statement released by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF). “The energy, the passion, and the hunger to achieve something truly historic here — those are the things that inspired me.” Pochettino had an initial meeting with USSF CEO JT Batson and sporting director Matt Crocker in Barcelona that stretched for five hours and had been in negotiations since mid- August. Crocker was Southampton’s academy director when Pochettino started at that club. While the contract length wasn’t specified, the USSF said Pochettino will lead the team at the World Cup. “Mauricio is a serial winner with a deep passion for player development and a proven ability to build cohesive and competitive teams,” Crocker said in a statement. “I am confident that he is the right choice to harness the immense potential within our talented squad.” Pochettino is due to arrive in the US today, two days before a news conference in New York. He will take over for friendlies against Panama on October 12 at Austin, Texas, and at Mexico three days later, then lead his first competitive matches in a two-leg Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal in November. “The one thing that I found a little funny was the statement that we were going to get a guy that basically wins everything,” said former US goalkeeper Kasey Keller, now an ESPN analyst. “It’s not like Pochettino has Jose Mourinho’s track record, but he’s obviously had a good level of success, particularly at places like Southampton, Tottenham, places that didn’t have the largest budget to go buy all the greatest players they ever wanted. “He knows how to work within in a group that might have particular limitations,” Keller added. “We have to admit that we’re still not France, Brazil, Germany, Argentina.” Pochettino arrives with high expectations from a USSF management and fan base that believes the player pool is capable of far more than its No. 16 world ranking. Berhalter was fired on July 10, a week after the Americans 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, then was rehired in June 2023 to return in September. US hire Pochettino to succeed Berhalter Mauricio Pochettino F ile GREGORY BRYCE Staff Reporter I t was an intense fixture last night at the Estadio Nacional Chelato Uclés as Jamaica took home their first three points of the Concacaf Nations League when they edged Honduras 2-1 and moved atop Group B of League A. An own goal from Denil Maldonado and a penalty from Michail Antonio secured the win for the Boyz while David Ruiz scored the consolation goal for the Central Americans. The Boyz opened the scoring in the second half through a combination of individual brilliance and unfortunate defending. Norman Campbell got the better of his marker out wide before his cross into the box was turned into the Honduran goal by a mistimed clearance by Maldonado. Jamaican fans would have still been celebrating their first goal when Honduras pulled the game level just seconds later. Immediately from kick-off, the Hondurans pressured the Jamaican defence with Ruiz toeing in the equaliser after a goalmouth scramble. Buoyed by their fans, Honduras would take the gear to another level as they applied waves of pressure against a resolute Jamaican defence. It would be the Caribbean outfit, however, who made the breakthrough against the run of play as Antonio stepped up from 12 yards out to slot home a penalty. With just a few minutes left on the clock, Honduras went searching for the equaliser and almost found it but were thwarted by the safe gloves of captain and custodian Andre Blake. The result means Jamaica leapfrogged Honduras as group leaders with four points from two games and now sit level with Nicaragua who played out a 1-1 draw with Cuba. Honduras have fallen to third in the group on three points ahead of Cuba who sit fourth on two points. At the foot of table are the pair of French Guiana and Trinidad and Tobago who share a point each from their games in the September window of the Nations League. The teams will return back to action next month when Jamaica will face Nicaragua away on October 10 before a return date with Honduras at the National Stadium on October 14. Boyz smash-and-grab in Honduras Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz F ile