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Fighting tears, Pochettino says leaving USMNT is one of 'most difficult' decisions

MIAMI — Mauricio Pochettino called the choice to leave the United States men's national team one of the most difficult of his career, becoming emotional in one of his final news conferences before taking over Manchester United.

✦ Extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting•From 2 sources•1 min read•Updated November 13, 2026, 3:12 PM UTC
Key points
  • New Manchester United boss Mauricio Pochettino was very emotional when thanking the US Soccer Federation.
  • When that arrives, it’s difficult to turn down that situation," Pochettino said.
  • "It's true that it's not ideal, but it's never an ideal situation when these type of things happen," Pochettino said.

"I think it was one of the most difficult decisions in our career." Pochettino will lead the U.S.

Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone and JT Batson, the organization's CEO, Pochettino held back tears as he spoke about the trust and commitment the U.S.

Additional details
  • You always were transparent and you always put the interests of the federation in front but always trying to build something together," he said at a news conference at the federation's base in Georgia.
  • Life, too, I think.That is why we need to move forward." The 54-year-old declined to speak about what intrigues him about Manchester United, saying there would be plenty of time to speak about why he was interested in the Premier League job after the Americans' matches against Haiti.
  • twice more, taking charge of both legs of a Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal against Haiti, the winner of which moves to the CNL Final Four in March and secures automatic qualification for the Gold Cup.
  • "I think we were very committed and never think that it would happen (as) quick as it was but also wanted to help the federation to have the possibility not to suffer too much." The U.S.
  • "It's a really difficult decision, but we need to move forward.

How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →

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Every article behind this summary — 2 articles from 2 outlets

Yahoo SportsNovember 13, 2026, 3:12 PM UTC → Sky SportsNovember 13, 2026, 2:49 PM UTC →

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