11 hours ago
Mauricio Pochettino handed huge boost ahead of USA's 2026 World Cup
The USA are set to host the 2026 World Cup and boss Mauricio Pochettino will be boosted by a state-of-the-art new training centre, which will open just before the tournament starts
Mauricio Pochettino will lead the 'US Way' from one of the best training centres in the world from next April. The Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Centre will open just ahead of next year's World Cup and the United States hope it will give them a major advantage ahead of the tournament.
It will cost between £225m and £250m, is just outside of Atlanta and will house 17 pitches, a full side indoor pitch and even two beach football courts.
United States technical director Matt Crocker, the Welshman who has previously worked for England and Southampton, wants the training ground to give the nation a new and strong footballing identity.
Furthermore, US Soccer will finally have a home and the 400 employees - including United States coach Pochettino and women's boss Emma Hayes - will be housed in the 'gold standard' facility.
US Soccer chiefs visited the English Football Association's base at St George's Park as they drew up plans as well as tapping into various different technical directors.
Rather like St George's Park, it is in the middle of the countryside but US Soccer chiefs say they chose the 200 acre site as it is just 20 minutes from Atlanta airport, which is the busiest in the world.
While they have had offices in Colorado and Chicago, they are currently effectively homeless and shift training bases, equipment and teams across the United States and even Pochettino has admitted he has not had somewhere to call home.
It underlines just how committed the nation is to growing the game as they prepare to jointly host the World Cup with Canada and Mexico next summer.
This month is the busiest ever for football in the US because the Club World Cup has been going on, the Gold Cup is also being staged with America playing fixtures throughout June and the Major League Soccer season is being played as normal.
Billionaire businessman Blank - who has donated around £50m to the project - is a huge sports fan and he owns three different sports clubs in Atlanta.
US Soccer chief commercial officer David Wright said: "I think it will be the gold standard and from where we sit that's how we've approached it. St. George's Park is obviously a big influence. That's obviously purely a sporting facility where this is going to have the whole Federation here.
"Matt Crocker has had a huge influence and input and he has put forward something called the 'US Way' which is an overarching vision across all the different teams which I'm sure you'll be hearing a lot more about that. The timing is perfect but this has been a dream for a long time and this has been one of many indicators of the growth of the game for a long time to come."
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