United States men's national soccer team manager Mauricio Pochettino criticized the American media for not congratulating his team after securing top spot in Group D at the World Cup.
Despite a 3-2 loss to Turkey in a statistically meaningless match, the US had already clinched first place in a difficult group, marking their best-ever group-stage performance.
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“At the moment, no one congratulated us for finishing first in a very difficult group,” Pochettino said during a press conference.
“Maybe I am confused, but the mood, the vibes [in here] is like we go home tonight and Turkey stays … it cannot be possible that Turkey finishes celebrating the three points, Australia is celebrating the qualification, Paraguay celebrating the qualification, and [I] come here, and for you not to say congratulations, that we won the group.
That is a little bit sad.”
The tension arose when reporters asked standard post-match questions about squad rotation and losing momentum after the defeat.
“[Momentum] is a topic that I don’t understand,” Pochettino said. “What is momentum?
To play with the same team that we played against Australia? And to take the risk of receiving a yellow card and not to play the next game?
Did Germany lose the momentum too [in their 2-1 loss to Ecuador]? I don’t know.”
This friction highlights cultural differences in sports journalism. In South and Central America, media professionals often offer warm pleasantries and congratulations to national team coaches.
