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<ul><li>Pochettino emphasizes competitiveness of MLS</li><li>USMNT coach identifies development gap</li><li>Highlights need for improved resources</li></ul><script type="application/json" data-placement="fcplayer-semantic">{"type":"fcplayer-semantic","data":{"embedCode":"//cdn.fcp.codes/embed-code-template/embed-code-template.js#SEMANTIC_5704afb8-c10b-4ba5-9cb4-d7fb6098ef90"}}</script>

'Pride to defend their shirt' - Mauricio Pochettino praises Diego Luna's hard-nosed style for Real Salt Lake and USMNT, calls out critics who 'underestimate the MLS'

Friendlies

Turkiye

USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino offered a spirited defense of Major League Soccer's quality while simultaneously acknowledging some development challenges facing American players. Pochettino addressed the leagues' international reputation, hailed the impact that fellow Argentine Lionel Messi has made with Inter Miami and and expressed frustration with MLS critics.“How we are seen as the player or the soccer here is that it’s improving a lot,” Pochettino said on the Unfiltered Soccer podcast. “We have the best player in the world playing here, Messi. And Messi when playing football, it’s difficult for him because I think it’s very competitive. I think sometimes people underestimate the MLS, but I think the players - and now that we are involved in the last year - watching a lot of football and seeing all the coaches here, and the preparation, the capacity and the quality..."We need to be honest and say that when you think in USA, you think about athletes in Olympic Games, basketball, NFL, hockey, baseball and then soccer. It's difficult to fight with this idea. What we need to do is to provide all the tools to our players, to help them to perform better.”

WHAT HAPPENED

Pochettino praised Diego Luna, who had several stellar appearances for the USMNT, including a match in which the Real Salt Lake star played despite breaking his nose.“It did not surprise me,” Pochettino said of Luna's approach and performances. “It’s like after many years of working with players, you smell something that can happen, you know? And when Diego, in the game in Orlando, received an elbow to his nose, I saw he was like this, blood... but he said ‘Coach I want to play... And then goes, fights, crashes with one guy and then takes the ball, assist. That is what I want.“No, that is what I want, that is the mentality. That is, you feel that the players play for nothing more than the pride to be a player, to defend their shirt. I was like this. I played because of that and not because of my quality.”<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="362" src="https://youtube.com/embed/s98iexHglGI" title="YouTube video player" width="644"></iframe>

WHAT MAURICIO POCHETTINO SAID

The relationship between MLS and the national team has evolved significantly since the league's 1996 founding, with increasing numbers of USMNT players developing domestically before moving abroad or remaining as MLS stars.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

The USMNT will face Turkey on June 7 in East Hartford, Connecticut and Switzerland on June 10 in Nashville, Tennessee as part of their preparation for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

WHAT’S NEXT?

'Pride to defend their shirt' - Mauricio Pochettino praises Diego Luna's hard-nosed style for Real Salt Lake and USMNT, calls out critics who 'underestimate the MLS' | Goal.com

The national team coach defended qualify of MLS play, acknowledges that soccer isn&apos;t always front-of mind sport in U.S.

&apos;Pride to defend their shirt&apos; - Mauricio Pochettino praises Diego Luna&apos;s hard-nosed style for Real Salt Lake and USMNT, calls out critics who &apos;underestimate the MLS&apos;

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