<\/div>\nUS coach\u2019s bizarre interview with Sesame Street star<\/b><\/p>\n
Two days before the United States\u2019 first World Cup game, coach Mauricio Pochettino only took questions from one intrepid reporter – and it was Sesame Street\u2019s Grover. <\/p>\n
\u201cHave you ever tried to motivate the team with snacks?\u201d<\/p>\n
The manager gamely played along, even if he appeared slightly perplexed to be chatting with a fluffy blue monster puppet, yards away from where his team were beginning a critical training session. <\/p>\n
If the interview content was not exactly hard-hitting, the broader strategy was clear. The co-hosts are pulling out all the stops to win over fans, who may be needed to energise players in the days ahead. <\/p>\n
Earlier this week, Argentinian coach Pochettino kicked off a public training session by grabbing the microphone and leading 5500 fans in \u201cUSA! USA\u201d chants at the team\u2019s training base in Irvine, California. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor the players it is so, so, so amazing and so important to receive your warm energy and all your love,\u201d he instructed supporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they need to introduce all this energy that you are going to send today, and share with us after on the pitch, on the field, to perform.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other unorthodox efforts to reach Americans who don\u2019t always follow soccer this week included a fashion photoshoot with Flaunt magazine, featuring midfielder Malik Tillman in a vast mushroom-shaped couture hat. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been sent around the group chat a few times… there\u2019s some questionable pictures!\u201d defender Chris Richards told reporters on Wednesday, with a laugh. <\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately it\u2019s about exposure. I\u2019m always up for expressing ourselves in different ways,\u201d added fellow centre-back Mark McKenzie. <\/p>\n
Commercial obligations aside, courting the American public could deliver marginal gains that may be useful as the US tackle a fiercely competitive Group D including Friday\u2019s opening opponents Paraguay, Australia and Turkey. <\/p>\n
Though the US would be assured of playing every game on their own soil if they progress to the knockouts, raucous home support has not always been guaranteed for the team, whose fans are often outnumbered by away fans due to the country\u2019s enormous immigrant and diaspora communities. <\/p>\n
In the Gold Cup final last year, the US lost in a Houston stadium overwhelmingly packed with rival Mexico fans. The semi-final in St Louis, Missouri, was a sea of light blue for their opponents Guatemala. <\/p>\n
Rand Getlin, the documentary filmmaker who spent four years following the US team for HBO series \u2018U.S. Against the World\u2019, recently told AFP it is a huge concern for American players. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt devastates them. It hurts them. It makes them sad. They\u2019re disappointed in themselves for not giving fans more to cheer for,\u201d said Getlin. <\/p>\n
Though some high-priced tickets for the US games remain unsold, the excitement has grown markedly more palpable in Los Angeles in recent days, with bars and billboards promoting watch parties to customers already wearing their favoured teams\u2019 kits. <\/p>\n
Whoever lies in wait in the last-32 round and beyond, the American players have talked frequently this week about drawing on the energy of home fans. <\/p>\n
\u201cBeing on home soil, number one, it\u2019s a dream come true,\u201d US winger Timothy Weah told reporters Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously there\u2019s gonna be pressure because you\u2019re the host and your fans want to see you shine. I think that makes it only more beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pochettino echoed those words, suggesting that fans could be an even more powerful tool for motivating his players than Grover\u2019s suggestion – which was \u201cchocolate cake\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think (our) massive inspiration is to make proud our fans, our families, the people that we love,\u201d he said<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nottingham Forest have reportedly rejected a \u00a3120 million (AU$230 million) bid from Manchester City for midfielder Elliot Anderson. According to The Telegraph, Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is pushing for the record fee for Anderson, currently in the United States with England\u2019s World Cup squad. A previous offer of around \u00a385 million (AU$162 million), was also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":247691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-247690","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}