Sports
Mauricio Pochettino understands his 'responsibility' with World Cup fast approaching
If there was any doubt the national soccer team was under new management it faded Saturday when fans arriving at Q2 Stadium for Mauricio Pochettino’s first game as coach were handed a poster bearing his face, the same face that stared out from a red banner behind the south goal.
“It was a massive shock for me,” said Pochettino, U.S. Soccer’s $6 million man, who also received a rousing ovation/welcome from the near-sellout crowd.
For much of the game that followed, however, Pochettino’s team played very much like the one that won just once in its final five matches under his predecessor, Gregg Berhalter. This time it did just enough to win, getting a goal from Yunus Musah four minutes into the second half and another from Ricardo Pepi four minutes into stoppage time to beat Panama 2-0.
So while the arrival of a coach who has enjoyed success in three of Europe’s top five leagues has inspired hope and energy — to say nothing of posters and banners — it must also be tempered with the knowledge that change doesn’t happen overnight. It certainly didn’t happen Saturday.
“I didn’t feel too many changes,” Panamanian coach Thomas Christiansen said. “He will need time to adapt his ideas to the team.”
Time, however, is short. The World Cup is returning to the U.S. in less than two years and Pochettino is reportedly being paid $6 million — nearly double the record for an American soccer coach — to make the team competitive for that tournament. The win over Panama, he said, was “the first step to start to grow and be better.”
Pochettino took the USMNT job a month ago and said the goal of his first camp, which will end with Tuesday’s friendly against Mexico in Guadalajara, was to introduce himself and his staff to the players and to begin to implement a style of play. That’s why the coach scheduled individual meetings with each player and used training sessions to establish “a few principles, a few concepts.”
“We want to put our stamp on the team,” he said in a news conference that moved seamlessly from English to Spanish and back again.
Against Panama the new coach went with a new look, opening with a 4-2-3-1 formation that featured 22-year-old midfielders Gianluca Busio and Aiden Morris as a double pivot. And for the first 20 minutes it worked, with the U.S. dominating possession and creating three dangerous chances, yet failing to put a shot on goal.
But, Pochettino added, he won’t be a slave to any one approach. If his players can’t adapt to him, he’ll try to adapt to them.
“People sometimes say ‘that’s my philosophy, my idea and I’m going to die with my idea’,” he said. “No, I want to live. I want to be clever. Sometimes we need to find a different way to put our players in a comfortable zone.
“If a player doesn’t have the conditions to do something, why would you force him? It’s about creating the dynamic, the possibility.”
U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino calls over Malik Tillman before putting the midfielder into Saturday’s game against Panama.
(Rodolfo Gonzalez / Associated Press)
That adaptation is likely to remain a work in progress, especially since Pochettino is missing more than half his probable starters — defenders Sergiño Dest, Chris Richards and Cameron Carter-Vickers, midfielder Tyler Adams, forwards Tim Weah and Folarin Balogun and attacker Gio Reyna — who were left off this month’s roster because of injury.
Christian Pulisic was present, however, and the new coach went out of his way to lavish praise the AC Milan forward, calling him “one of the best offensive players in the world.”
Pulisic, who assisted on the first goal Saturday, returned the compliment, saying he enjoyed his first week with the new staff.
“The training has been real intense and good,” said Pulisic, whose five goals ranks third in Serie A. “A lot of work and a long time on the pitch to kind of show how we want to play and get some ideas across.”
One idea Pochettino has emphasized since taking over the USMNT is confidence. Captain Tim Ream said Saturday that message has gotten through.
“He’s been speaking about confidence all week,” he said. ”When he tells guys to go and be themselves, you know it’s a sign that he has confidence in you.
“Knowing the caliber of manager that he is, the caliber of players that he’s that he’s managed, for him to come in and give guys that license to be themselves, it allows guys to express themselves more and more and more. And be confident doing that.”
Another theme is to believe, a term he used repeatedly in his introductory news conference last month.
“’Believe’ for me is a word that is so powerful,” he said then. “In football you need to believe that all is possible.
“We need to really believe in big things. Believe that we can win not only a game, we can win the World Cup. We want players that show up and think big.”
“The potential is there. The talent is there,” he added. “It’s only to create the best platform for them to express themselves.”
It’s a theme he returned to last week when he again talked about the challenge of preparing for the fast-approaching World Cup, one that has the potential to change the sport’s trajectory in the U.S.
“That is our responsibility. It is a massive, massive responsibility,” he said. “We need to build that confidence and trust that we can arrive in two years and be really competitive and feel proud about a sport that maybe wasn’t born here, but starts to belong here.”
The countdown clock for that mission is already ticking. And Saturday’s win over Panama was a positive first step.
⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the Corner of the Galaxy podcast.
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Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Dominiq Ponder died this weekend, the team’s head coach Deion Sanders confirmed on Sunday with a social media post.
“God please comfort the Ponder family, friends and loved ones,” Sanders wrote on social media. “Dom was one of my favorites! He was Loved, Respected & a Born Leader. Let’s pray for all that knew him & had the opportunity to be in his presence. Lord you’re receiving a good 1. Comfort us Lord Comfort us.”
Ponder was 23 years old.
Details of Ponder’s death are not yet known.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his team warm up before an NCAA college football game against TCU Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Fort Worth, Texas. (Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo)
Ponder, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound signal caller, joined the Buffaloes and “Coach Prime’s” program in 2024 after spending time at Bethune-Cookman before making his way to Boulder.
Last season, Ponder played just two games for the Buffaloes while serving in his backup role. He recorded two rush attempts and one pass attempt.
The Opa Locka, Fla., native also received tribute from a fellow quarterback with the Buffaloes, Colton Allen.
Bethune-Cookman QB Dominiq Ponder takes a snap during the Wildcats’ spring game Saturday, April 22, 2023, at Daytona Stadium. (IMAGN)
“Dom, you were a blessing to so many people,” Allen wrote on Instagram. “You had a presence about you that just made everything better. You brought so much joy to me and everyone around you. I’m grateful for every lift, every practice, every rep, every conversation we got to share. I’ll carry those with me for the rest of my life.”
Ponder was going to be a part of Colorado’s spring practices, which are set to begin on Monday. It’s unknown if Sanders will postpone the start due to Ponder’s passing.
Ponder also received a tribute from the University of Central Florida.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his players warm up before an NCAA college football game against Utah, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (Tyler Tate/AP Photo)
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“Our prayers are with Dominiq and the Ponder family along with all in the Colorado football program,” the university’s football account on X wrote.
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Sunday was “Senior Night” for the USC women’s basketball team at Galen Center, but it was the other team’s seniors who stole the show.
Gabriela Jaquez scored 14 points, Kiki Rice had 11 points and four assists and Lauren Betts had 15 rebounds and five assists as UCLA wrapped up the regular season with a 73-50 victory over its rival and finished undefeated in conference play for the first time since going 18-0 in the Pac-10 in 1998-99 under Kathy Olivier.
Having already clinched the regular-season title, UCLA became the first team to navigate the Big Ten schedule without a loss since Maryland in 2014-15.
“These are two elite programs, we knew it would be different tonight, we knew they’d come with fire,” said UCLA coach Cori Close, who improved to 9-4 against the Trojans since counterpart Lindsay Gottlieb started at USC in 2021. “We knew we’d have to do it with our defense, our rebounding and by taking care of the ball.”
It was the Bruins’ 22nd consecutive win, one shy of the record they set last season. Since their lone loss to then-No. 4 Texas on Nov. 26 in Las Vegas, they have won by 20 or more points 17 times.
Ranked second in the nation in both the Associated Press and coaches’ polls behind defending national champion Connecticut (30-0), the Bruins earned the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament in Indianapolis and got a bye into Friday’s quarterfinals.
Charlisse Leger-Walker, nicknamed “X-ray vision” by teammates, equaled her season high with 20 points for the Bruins (28-1, 18-0) while Gianna Kneepkens added 14 points and five assists.
“Anytime we play together we know we can win,” Leger-Walker said. “We did a good job looking into the scout. Every game we just think about going 1-0. People scouting us know that all five players on the court can score the ball.”
UCLA center Lauren Betts, left, controls the ball in front of USC forward Vivian Iwuchukwu during the first half Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
UCLA held USC to 27% shooting in the teams’ first meeting — a 34-point Bruins victory at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 3 behind Betts’ 18 points. It was USC’s most lopsided loss under coach Lindsay Gottlieb. On Sunday, USC shot 39% and was only three for 19 from three-point range.
“Going undefeated [in conference] is a great step in the right direction towards what we want to accomplish,” said Jaquez, who appreciated the flowers she received before the game from USC. “I love this rivalry. It’s super fun to play against them and it was nice that they honored us too.”
UCLA jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the first five minutes and carried a 19-11 advantage into the second quarter. The Bruins widened the gap to 18 points by halftime, holding the Trojans scoreless for the last 3:08.
USC (17-12, 9-9) opened the second half on an 11-2 run but gave up 14 second-chance points and allowed 22 offensive rebounds.
UCLA guard Kiki Rice, front, and forward Angela Dugalic celebrate as USC guard Kennedy Smith walks away during the first half Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
“If we get more possessions than our opponent we’re most likely going to win,” Close said. “We didn’t allow one basket on an out-of-bounds play and they lead the conference in that.”
Freshman guard Jazzy Davidson, USC’s leading scorer, got into early foul trouble but still finished with 12 points. She was held to 10 points on four-for-15 shooting in the first meeting.
“It was a great crowd, we were in the fight but we didn’t rebound or shoot well enough,” Gottlieb said. “We wanted to keep them out of our paint. We swarmed Betts, double-teamed her and got it out of her hands but other people scored.”
Londynn Jones, who spent three seasons in Westwood (playing in 108 straight games) before transferring to USC for her senior year, was held to six points in the team’s first meeting and nine points (on four-of-10 shooting) in the rematch. The Trojans’ other senior, Kara Dunn, was held scoreless in the first half and finished with eight points.
“I love Londynn,” Close said. “We think she looks better in blue, but we love her and I told her that. I appreciate all she gave to our programs.”
Asked if this is the best team she has ever coached, Close had a one-word answer.
“Yes.”
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Israel’s national gymnastics team has suspended all training and team activities amid the recent Iranian counter-attack on the country following the U.S.-assisted strikes on Iran.
The Israel Gymnastics Federation (IGF) provided a statement to Fox News Digital announcing the violence has caused “unavoidable disruptions.”
“The current security situation in our region has resulted in unavoidable disruptions to our regular training schedule and has created significant uncertainty regarding the national teams’ professional plans, particularly as we are at the outset of the international season,” the statement read.
“At this time, all training activities have been temporarily suspended, pending approval from the relevant authorities to safely resume operations. Naturally, the suspension of training and the closure of airspace are causing considerable stress and concern. However, the safety and well-being of our gymnasts and professional staff remain our highest priority. We sincerely hope for safer and calmer days ahead, when we can focus solely on sport.”
A source within the team told Fox News Digital on Saturday that the gymnasts have been moving between bomb shelters since Iran’s counterstrikes began.
Israel’s gymnastics team is considered one of nation’s strongest Olympic programs alongside its Judo and sailing teams. The team is only a week removed from a successful trip at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Germany, where the country’s star Artem Dolgopyat won the gold medal in floor gymnastics.
Now, the team will have to seek safety until the attacks are over.
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has directed all U.S. government employees and their family members to continue to shelter in place either in or near their residences as Iran continues to fire missiles at Israel.
Additionally, the embassy announced that due to the security situation, it would be closed on March 2, and did not give an estimate on when it would be reopening. The closure includes consular sections in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
The embassy also said it is “not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel.” It noted that Ben Gurion Airport remains closed and there there are neither commercial nor charter flights operating from the airport.
On Friday, ahead of the launch of Operation Epic Fury, the embassy gave all non-essential workers permission to leave Israel, with reports that U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee urged those looking to leave to do so as soon as possible.
Iranian airstrikes killed at least eight Israelis on Sunday as Tehran’s latest missile barrage landed just miles from Jerusalem.
The strikes landed in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh. Initial reports said four people were killed when missiles landed in a residential area on Sunday, but that death toll rose to eight, according to Israel’s national emergency service.
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Iran’s military has carried out counterattacks against Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East after a joint U.S.-Israeli strike killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
The strikes also killed several other top Iranian leaders, including the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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