SEATTLE -- Mauricio Pochettino has become such an icon for his role leading the U.S. Men’s National Team at the World Cup that recently he had to set the record straight that he is still “100% Argentine.”
But Friday night, he got another taste of good ol’ America, throwing out the first pitch before the Mariners' 2-0 loss to the Blue Jays at T-Mobile Park to kick off a holiday weekend that will end with the biggest USMNT match in a generation next door.
Monday, Pochettino’s squad will take on Belgium at the temporarily dubbed Seattle Stadium in the Round of 16 of the World Cup. The U.S. has only advanced to the quarterfinals at a men’s World Cup once since 1930. That being said, the men’s national team is a perfect 7-0-0 in Seattle all-time.
And unlike the USMNT’s group stage matchup against Australia in Seattle on June 19 -- when the team arrived in the Pacific Northwest from its base in Los Angeles the day before -- it came earlier this time around, getting the weekend to train at the University of Washington … and the chance to catch a Mariners game.
Friday morning at UW’s Husky Soccer Stadium, Pochettino got his hands on a glove to practice, with backup goalkeeper Matt Turner -- a baseball player in high school who himself threw out the first pitch at an Angels game before the USMNT’s first group stage match in L.A. -- giving him some pointers on mechanics.
Then in the evening, it was showtime. All told, around 70 people from the U.S. camp were on hand pregame, including the entire roster, which was introduced one-by-one, walking a red carpet into the infield. Christian Pulisic and goalkeeper Matt Freese got hearty cheers, but the loudest by far was for the Seattle Sounders’ Christian Roldan, who took the field wielding the Mariners’ home run trident.
Finally, Pochettino took the field wearing a Mariners' jersey and delivered a strike to Seattle manager Dan Wilson. Not bad for someone who was rumored to have never touched a baseball until Friday.
"It was actually really, really good," U.S. captain Tim Ream said. "He only had a little bit of practice this afternoon. ... It looked like a strike to us."
Afterward, the Mariners stepped onto the field -- many waving American flags -- for a group photo with the USMNT, and Pochettino took the mic for a very quick word:
“[Seattle] is a great city, it’s a soccer city. Thank you so much.”
It all ended with huge chants of “U-S-A” as the players took pictures on the field, and a singalong of John Denver’s “Country Roads,” which has become the squad's victory anthem this World Cup.
"Seattle just shows out," Ream said. "They show out for their sports teams. No surprise that they're out here showing out for the Mariners and it's great to have this little crossover."
Pochettino and the USMNT -- plus the upcoming holiday -- gave Friday’s matchup against the Blue Jays even more charge than usual. For years, the Jays’ annual trip to T-Mobile Park has amounted to a sort of Canadian invasion, with fans (particularly from the Vancouver area) crossing the border in droves.
Throw in the added storylines of an ALCS rematch, and he ended up setting the stage for a whole lot of hype.
Then again, Pochettino and the USMNT are no strangers to hype, as they look to take their run to historic territory.