Going the extra for bringing Mauricio Pochettino as their new manager proved favorable for the USMNT. Though the past saw them flirt with many big names including Jurgen Klopp, Gareth Southgate, and Herve Renard, the Star and Stripes were locked in on the former Tottenham boss. But was just the US Soccer that made the deal possible. One may extend their gratitude to recent USWNT hire Emma Hayes.

One of the obvious similarities between the coaches of both the men’s and women’s national teams is that they have a manager who both come from the same team. Hayes and Pochettino know each other from their time at Chelsea, having coached their respective first-team setup. While the English-born had been with the Blues since 2012, Poch came as fresh in 2023 under the Tod Boehly era.

But within a year, the two created a robust bond with each other at Chelsea’s Cobham Training Ground. Hence, taking advantage of that friendship, Hayes did her best to pursue her fellow ex-Blue man to join ‘The Project 2026’ with the USA. Per Athletic, after some strong discussions with the representatives of US Soccer, the WNT boss called Pochettino to lobby and shared her experience of coaching the American ladies thus far.

Not to mention, she also turned out to be a reference for the former PSG manager, urging the USSF to make her former Chelsea colleague a priority. Furthermore, it seemed Hayes was so engaged and ready to go the extra mile that, on the day of her team’s Olympic semifinal in Lyon, France, she reached out to U.S. Soccer officials at the team hotel to check on the progress of Pochettino’s situation.

Even the Athletic senior journalist Felipe Cardenas also shared details of how focused Hayes remained on negotiations with the USSF, while simultaneously looking at the USWNT during the Olympics campaign. “She kept checking in to make sure that Pochettino’s deal and everything, that the connections that were being made were on the right track.”

This was the least Hayes could do for the ex-PSG boss. Not to mention the 47-year-old was forced to cut out Pochettino during a tête-à-tête when all of a sudden she received a congratulatory phone call from Sir Alex Ferguson on accepting the USWNT job. “Sir Alex phoned me at Cobham but I was in the middle of talking to Poch. So l was torn. Unfortunately, I had to tell Poch ‘wait’,” she once narrated to the Athletic.

But jokes aside, Hayes’ influence certainly made a strong case for Pochettino, who now gears up to live the American dream. In fact, she had a special message for the new USMNT boss.

Emma Hayes welcomes Mauricio Pochettino to USA in style!

“Mauricio!,” Emma began, cheerfully announcing his name in Spanish tone in a small congratulatory clip she recorded. “Welcome to US Soccer. I cannot wait to work with you again. I look forward to collaborating over the next couple of years. This is an exciting time for US Soccer and I just wanted to say, welcome. And I look to bringing you into the US Soccer family,” concluded the USWNT manager with a big flying kiss.

Soon after the news broke, Mauricio Pochettino also expressed his excitement to the fans. “The decision to join U.S. Soccer wasn’t just about football for me; it’s about the journey that this team and this country are on. The energy, the passion, and the hunger to achieve something truly historic here — those are the things that inspired me.” Indeed, exciting times ahead for the US Soccer.