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US men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino probably understands the pressure of playing for your national team in a way few of his players can.

Pochettino was a late cut from Argentina’s World Cup plans in 1994 and 1998. He finally made the squad as a veteran in 2002, part of a stacked team favored by many to win the entire tournament. The country itself was in the midst of an unprecedented economic crisis and an entire nation turned to La Albiceleste for a bit of hope.

“Argentine people feel the pressure,” Pochettino told reporters during a press conference Friday afternoon, ahead of the USMNT’s pair of friendlies against Belgium and Portugal in Atlanta. “Football is a battle to survive. It was really an energy that was so heavy, and we didn’t deal with that.”

Argentina’s performance at the World Cup that year was catastrophic. Under the guidance of Marcelo Bielsa and featuring legends such as Juan Sebastián Verón and Gabriel Batistuta, they crashed out in the group stage for the first time in a half century. After a draw in their final match against Sweden, most of the team sank to their knees and wept, refusing to leave the pitch, fully in denial that they’d so badly failed to meet expectations.

Nearly 25 years later, Pochettino finds himself at the helm of a US team who have never faced those exact types of expectations. Yet pressure has existed. It was there in 1994, when the US first hosted the tournament, and by all accounts there are massive stakes for the US this year, when they’ll host it again along with Mexico and Canada. Football may not be life or death in the US the way it is in Argentina. But for most of the players in Pochettino’s squad, this is the closest they’ll get to feeling the crushing weight of expectations on the international stage.

Pochettino, though, does not want to hear about pressure these days. For better or worse, the Argentinian has a tendency to veer into motivational speak at times, having famously led players into retreats where they walk on hot coals or perform trust falls. That energy was present Friday when he began to speak about the mountain of pressure his players will feel this summer.

“There’s pressure for us, the coaching staff,” Pochettino said. “But [we have a desire that our players] perform, sending good energy – but not to create something where you say ‘it’s a tragedy if you lose.’ Because [we believe that] when you’re free, you perform. When you feel happy, you perform. You don’t need to feel the pressure. Because the pressure is a thing that if you don’t deal perfectly with it, it can be heavy.”

This current group of US players, called by many the most talented ever, seems uniquely well-equipped to deal with whatever external stressors may emerge a few months out from a World Cup on home soil. Friday’s training session took place at the training ground of MLS side Atlanta United, and players were generally in good spirits, laughing and trading jabs during rondos and small-sided games. Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Pochettino all seemed at ease speaking with media, with the latter’s remarks stretching out over half an hour.

More than any other American player, Pulisic – arguably the most talented player in the history of the program – likely feels the burden of pressure. A quick drive around Atlanta will expose you to Pulisic on everything from billboards to bus shelters, and his name seems a constant point of conversation among fans, in person and on social media alike. Captain America, as he’s been nicknamed, is likely the highest-profile player the program has ever seen. Pochettino may prefer to talk about expectations instead of pressure, but Pulisic, undoubtedly, feels both.

“You guys want me to feel the pressure, that’s for sure,” Pulisic quipped to the media on Friday with a laugh. “There’s pressure, it’s a World Cup, it’s not because of my position in the team or anything. I’m used to this, I wouldn’t want to be in any other position, I’m lucky to be in this position. There’s pressure, I can feel it, yes, it’s there, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m going to attack it head on. I don’t need to do it myself, that’s the beauty of it. I have the whole team behind me, the staff, a country of fans and I’m just going to do the best I can do.”

The pressure on Pochettino is multifold. He is far and away the highest-paid coach in the history of American soccer and whether he feels it or not, much is expected of his squad this summer. He has been tasked with motivating a group of players some fans and pundits have long pegged as lacking in grit, motivation and any other assortment of intangibles. By most accounts, he has created a strong relationship with most of his squad. Asked Friday how he’s managed to connect with players – and to focus their thoughts on the task at hand – Pochettino answered in Spanish, veering, as always, towards motivational speak.

“I think the motivation begins from the first day you meet someone,” he said. “It’s vital energy that you have within yourself, where you prepare your body, your mind, your being, so that you can enjoy what you’re doing … Words, a lot of the time, are empty. I can give you a motivational speech right here that’s incredible. But if I don’t create an emotional bond with you, it’s impossible that you’ll be motivated by my words … If it doesn’t affect you in your heart, it’s very hard.”

In some ways, Pochettino has bought his own spiel. His positivity may be grating to the subset of US fans who have been jaded by the program’s historical struggle to improve on results, but it’s equally infectious, drenched in the type of patriotic, innocent optimism that so effectively keeps hope alive. It was present earlier this week, when the US manager gave his squad an impassioned speech, punctuating it with a simple question: “Why not us?”

“Dreams inspire reality,” Pochettino said Friday. Asked why he thinks the US can compete to win the World Cup, he continued: “because we are American.”

“What I am saying is that I am here because I believe that we can win. I can tell people that I really believe that. Whether that happens or doesn’t happen, there are too many factors in the middle. But the most important piece is that we believe that we can perform and to compete and that we can earn what we want.”