USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino has admitted he made a mistake when judging just how excited supporters in the country were for the World Cup.
As ever, so much has been made about whether joint-hosting the World Cup will help soccer grow in the United States.
Pochettino himself appears to have previously questioned how willing the American audience is to embrace the sport.
However, the Argentine now believes expecting too much excitement early in his tenure was ill-advised. Now, he says, he can feel the buzz around the country.
Pochettino admits he misjudged excitement levels in the US
Speaking to ESPN he said: “Maybe my expectation, or my mistake, was expecting the excitement around the U.S. team a year and a half ago to be what it is today.
“That was probably my mistake. We had to build that excitement again. When we started this journey towards the World Cup a year and a half ago, maybe we expected too much too soon.
“But now you can really feel it.”
Indeed, the USMNT completed their preparation for the World Cup on Saturday with a 2-1 friendly defeat to Germany in Chicago. 63,636 supporters watched their team in what was an improved performance, while 57,741 watched the US beat Senegal in Charlotte a few days before.
The US will play their opening game in Los Angeles on Friday June 12 against Paraguay.
It is a huge game for the country, who are desperate to make a good impression on the soccer stage during this World Cup.
Paraguay have not appeared at the World Cup since 2010 and are out to make a statement of their own, however.
The US then play Australia in Seattle on June 19 before they travel back to LA to play against Turkey on June 25.
The USMNT have not given their supporters much to cheer about in recent years but there is a palpable sense of excitement about their chances.
Host nations have generally done well in World Cups and Pochettino has been bullish about their chances of a successful campaign.
The furthest the US have ever gone in the World Cup was back in the inaugural edition in 1930. They reached the semi-finals of that tournament in Uruguay and were duly awarded third place.
The last time the US got further than the round of 16 was back in 2002, when they lost to Germany in South Korea.
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