Coaching the U.S. was a big test for Mauricio Pochettino. Then his World Cup opener went ‘amazing’

Briana Lupea

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — As motorized carts drove back and forth inside SoFi Stadium late Friday night, their noise interrupting a postgame news conference, U.S. men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino did not try to hide his annoyance. “Call FIFA,” he told a moderator. It was, remarkably, about the only thing that did not go his way during an otherwise dream debut coaching the U.S. in its first World Cup on home soil since 1994. The U.S. had never scored four goals in a World Cup match before,