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Tottenham Hotspur coach, Mauricio Pochettino and his wife Karina arrive for The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony, on September 23, 2019 at Teatro alla Scala in Milan. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP) (Photo by TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images)

United States soccer coach Mauricio Pochettino is excited to wear the red, white and blue crest during the World Cup, but the USMNT manager is also proud to be from Argentina. Likewise, Mauricio’s wife, Karina Pochettino, is also a proud Argentinian.

Well before his career as a football manager, Mauricio made 20 appearances for Argentina’s national team. Mauricio is originally from Murphy, Argentina.

The USMNT coach had humble beginnings as his parents, Hector and Amalia Pochettino, were both farmers. Mauricio’s wife, Karina, has a way of keeping him humble by coaching up the soccer boss, particularly when it comes to his media sessions.

“Many things. Many, many times,” Mauricio said of his wife’s criticism during a 2018 media session, per Football London. “It’s more than 25 years now she’s been next to me, and in the last few years the one thing that she criticizes most is my press conferences.

“Because she is very focused, ‘why you say that’, ‘you need to say to, not for’, ‘that is why, not because.’ She is fixing me after every press conference and criticizes me a lot. But it is part of it to improve, no?”

Here’s what you need to know about the Pochettino family.

USA Coach Mauricio Pochettino & Wife, Karina Pochettino, Are the Proud Parents of 2 Kids, Sebastiano and Maurizio

Karina and Mauricio are the proud parents of two children: Sebastiano and Maurizio. It is a family affair for the Pochettinos as the manager’s son, Sebastiano, is also part of the United States staff as a sports scientist.

“The final addition (to coaching staff) was Pochettino’s son, Sebastiano, who earned a university degree in sports and exercise when his father was Southampton manager in 2013 and 2014,” The Athletic’s Jack Pitt-Brooke detailed in a September 27, 2024, story titled, “Mauricio Pochettino: Introducing his USMNT backroom staff — and what each of them do.”

“He has worked for his dad as a fitness coach and sports scientist at (Tottenham), PSG and Chelsea and is an established part of the team.”

USMNT Manager Mauricio Pochettino Once Banned His Wife, Karina, From Attending Games

During his time as Tottenham manager, Mauricio once “banned” his wife from attending matches during a winning streak. Mauricio admitted that this did not exactly go as planned.

“In the last few weeks she has not been coming to White Hart Lane. So I said, ‘Better you stay at home because we keep winning,” Mauricio noted in 2017, per The Sun’s Paul Jiggins.

“… When I arrive home she has been watching on TV and says why this or why that? She always gives an opinion — but always after, never before!”

Mauricio Pochettno & Wife, Karina, Met at a Nightclub When USA Manager Was a Player

The couple met at a nightclub when Mauricio was celebrating a marquee goal as a player. Karina and Mauricio got married in 1994, years after initially meeting. Karina studied pharmacy at National University.

“Karina was born in 1973 in Argentina and studied pharmacy at the City’s National University,” The Sun’s Jessica Nibbs and Charlotte Everett noted in a May 2024, story titled, “Family affair Who is Mauricio Pochettino’s wife Karina?”

“The couple first crossed paths in 1991 in a nightclub when Mauricio was out celebrating his triumphant score for Newell’s Old Boys – an Argentine sports club.”