TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Mauricio Pochettino gets to match up Tuesday night against Marcelo Bielsa, the coach who recruited him as a 13-year-old, when the United States plays Uruguay in a pre-World Cup friendly.

Pochettino, 53, took over the U.S. team last year while the 70-year-old Bielsa became Uruguay's coach in 2023.

“My admiration and my respect is massive,” Pochettino said Monday. “He was key in my career (as) a player and key in — to love that game and to inspire, he inspired me to keep pushing, trying to be a coach. Yes, tomorrow for me is a thing to enjoy, to be with him very close and in the same time we are going to suffer because all the teams under Marcelo's management are so tough to play.”

Pochettino played under Bielsa at Newell's Old Boys in Argentina from 1990-92. Bielsa wen

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