Mauricio Pochettino wipes away tears as he discusses stunning USMNT split

Detailed summary

Pochettino struggled to keep it together at times during the press conference Friday.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — An emotional Mauricio Pochettino said his farewell Friday morning just hours after the news became official that he would be leaving the U.S. men’s national team to take on the role as manager at Premier League club Manchester United.

Pochettino struggled to keep it together at times during the roughly 30-minute press conference at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center outside of Atlanta.

“When we started talking about the idea of becoming a head coach of this amazing country, of this amazing federation, we were very excited about that and to share a project that would really believe,” Pochettino said. “A project and a program that we were evolving together, that is why it made more difficult that decision [to leave]. A decision that in some part is a very sad decision. In another part, we are professional and we need to try to find the next step.”

He added: “The most important thing is all that we left here. The moment we shared together and all the things that we accomplished and all the things we put in place.”

Pochettino got choked up while discussing the relationship he developed with U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson and U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone.

As the outgoing coach collected himself, Batson patted him on the back.

Friday was the conclusion of what had been a week-long saga as reports came out that Manchester United was interested in bringing on Pochettino as their next manager.

The biggest domino fell Thursday when Man United fired Michael Carrick.

Pochettino said Friday that contact between himself and Manchester United first occurred Sunday and he was “very transparent” with the federation.

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