Pochettino and Martino, Newell’s greats reunited in the US | OneFootball

On the eve of the clash between the home team and Belgium, the two champions with Newell’s in 1992 crossed paths again and exchanged warm words.

As part of the last FIFA international window before the World Cup, the United States national team will host Belgium at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Arena. The match, which will be played this Saturday starting at 4:30 p.m., made possible the reunion of two Newell’s legends: Gerardo Martino (Atlanta United coach) and Mauricio Pochettino (head coach of the U.S. national team). The two shared kind words and posed for a photo at the pre-match press conference.

“When I made my debut at Newell’s, he (Martino) was the captain. I learned many things, too many things,” Pochettino began. He then added: “The player I was and the coach I am today are thanks to him; my whole generation made its debut with him. For me, he was one of the best Argentine players in the world and one of the best coaches, without a doubt.”

Tata, for his part, replied in Spanish: “Mauri is very generous with his words. Jorge (Pautasso) and I have great affection for him; we saw him getting started when we were already a bit older. The truth is that he has had a fantastic career, both as a footballer and, needless to say, as a coach. We wish them all the best for this World Cup.”

It is worth noting that the United States, one of the three hosts of this World Cup, will share Group D with Paraguay, Australia, and the winner of the playoff between Turkey and Kosovo, which will be played this Tuesday starting at 3:45 p.m.

As they mentioned during the press conference, Pochettino and Martino were teammates at Newell’s in the early 1990s. With Tata as captain, they won the 1992 Clausura and reached the final of that year’s Copa Libertadores, where they lost on penalties to Telé Santana’s São Paulo, which featured stars such as Raí and Cafú.

Two years later, Poch moved to Espanyol, the club where he played more than 258 matches before wearing the shirts of Paris Saint-Germain, Girondins de Bordeaux, and returning to retire with the Catalan side.

Martino, meanwhile, had to leave Newell’s because of issues with controversial president Eduardo López and, after playing for Lanús, O’Higgins, and Barcelona de Guayaquil, retired with the Ecuadorian club in 1996. In 2012 he returned as coach and did extremely well: he won the 2013 Final and reached the semifinals of that year’s Copa Libertadores, where he lost on penalties to Atlético Mineiro. He then moved directly to Barcelona, which at the time was the best team in the world.

After losing the CONCACAF Gold Cup final to Mexico in July last year, Pochettino’s United States team posted positive results: they beat Japan, Australia, Paraguay, and Uruguay, the latter by a commanding 5-1 scoreline.

Now they will face top-level European national teams: they will take on Belgium and Portugal during this FIFA window, and in one of their two friendlies before the World Cup they will face Germany (the other will be against Senegal).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.