Mauricio Pochettino believes USMNT is ready for a World Cup that could change soccer in the U.S.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — In the hours before Friday’s U.S. World Cup opener, at the team hotel, on the police-escorted bus and inside SoFi Stadium’s locker room, Mauricio Pochettino will dispense final instructions to a team he has molded for 19 months. As the minutes count down to kickoff against Paraguay, Pochettino will step into a moment worthy of a Hollywood film and have an opportunity to rally his players with a speech that invokes courage and patriotism while also touching their hearts. He could mirror the inspirational speech punctuating one of his favorite movies, “Miracle,” in which Kurt Russell, portraying coach Herb Brooks, rallied the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. In those final moments, though, Pochettino says he will not say much. “I already talk — too much, too much,” he said Thursday. “I said, ‘Don't expect my unbelievable speech Friday.’ No, I am the opposite. I think now is the moment they need to prepare in an emotional and mental way. Now they don’t need external motivation or inspirational speech.” After numerous training camps and friendlies, tournaments and tuneups, Pochettino believes he and his staff have done everything to get his players in the proper mindframe. “If you are not ready, sorry guys, it's impossible to perform,” he added Thursday at his pre-match news conference. Pochettino believes he has them ready, for not just Paraguay, but for perhaps the deepest U.S. run since 2002 and for the brightest spotlight since the quadrennial jamboree took place in these parts 32 years ago. He said his team has made progress in the way they play and how they’ve seized a winning mentality — even if the results didn’t always pan out in the series of friendlies since last fall. “The mindset starts to change, and I've seen we embrace the culture of the country that is being number one and competitive,” he said. “We need to win games but play with passion and to make the fans [feel] proud about what they are seeing on the field. It’s to create that emotional relationship … but we need to win. The most important thing is to win.” At the 11th hour, that’s probably as close to a tear-jerking sermon as his players are going to get. They understand the weight of the World Cup and what performing well would mean in a country where soccer remains behind football, basketball and others. “This is, for me, the biggest opportunity to really grow the game, to inspire people to show that American players are at the level of the rest of the world,” midfielder Tyler Adams said. “Let's show everyone what we're capable of doing.” Now’s the time. While the pro leagues have helped build soccer’s foundation, the national team’s lack of success has stunted its growth. Since ending a 40-year absence from the tournament in 1990, the Americans have won just six World Cup matches and advanced past the round of 16 once. In that span, they’ve won two of 22 tournament games against European and South American opponents. In Group D this year, they’ll play one of each (Turkey and Paraguay), plus Australia. At least two will qualify for the round of 32. Midfielder Cristian Roldan says the team understands the importance of finally making a breakthrough at home. “There's a huge responsibility on our part to show up and create those long, lasting memories for the next generation,” he said. “We're all excited obviously having the World Cup here in the United States, and in great spots to be able to achieve something bigger than ourselves.” While Pochettino wants the players to understand their potential impact, he also wants them to enter the tournament like “they are a child with no pressure.” They are no children, though. Thirteen of the 26 U.S. players were in Qatar four years ago. At that tournament, only one U.S. player had any World Cup experience and the team was among the two youngest in the field. It showed in the round of 16, where the much more mature Netherlands bounced them out of the competition. “Last World Cup, maybe we're all just a little bit young,” midfielder Gio Reyna said. Consequently, “it's normal to struggle in certain big moments, like we did last tournament. The biggest strength now is everyone is just four years older and has matured as players and as people.” Since training camp opened last month in the Atlanta area, they also seem more relaxed. “You don't want to feel like you're gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles,” captain Tim Ream said at the time. Adams said Thursday that he was “a good nervous. I never get nervous for games, but it feels real in the moment. I’m excited to get out there with this group of guys, because I'm confident in what we can do.” No one will bear more responsibility than Christian Pulisic, the AC Milan forward who, through his talent and commercial endorsements, has become the face of the World Cup squad. “It’s a big moment,” he said. “I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time.” The Hershey, Pennsylvania, native added, “I genuinely don't feel like I have to do anything on my own. They expect a lot out of me, but with the guys I have around me, honestly, it makes it a lot easier.” His colleagues include a dozen others employed in Europe’s five best leagues, including top defender Chris Richards, who will probably start after recovering from an ankle injury suffered May 17. While the focus is on a stubborn Paraguay team that conceded just 10 goals in 18 World Cup qualifiers — “a great team and a really good test,” Pulisic said — the U.S. also sees Friday’s match as the first step in launching not just this campaign but the sport at large. “We want the game to grow,” Pulisic said. “It’s going to keep growing, no matter what happens, but of course we want to put on the best performance we can. We want to get Americans excited to watch this game, to watch our team. That's obviously a big goal of ours. And yeah, of course, being successful would give that the best boost.”