Mauricio Pochettino has led the USMNT through the group stage as winners and into the round of 16 with a clean 2-0 dismantling of Bosnia-Herzegovina. So naturally, he decided the best use of his downtime was stepping onto an MLB mound and risking going viral for all the wrong reasons.
He didn't. Pitching before the Seattle Mariners hosted the Toronto Blue Jays at T-Mobile Park on Friday night, Pochettino's throw was a little loopy but landed cleanly in the catcher's mitt. Given that he was simultaneously working out how to replace suspended striker Folarin Balogun for the Belgium knockout tie, the composure was almost impressive.
A summer tradition the beautiful game didn't see coming
Pochettino isn't alone. This World Cup summer has turned into an unlikely baseball crossover event, with soccer figures turning up at ballparks across the States to test their arm strength and dignity in equal measure.
- Matt Turner set the bar. The USMNT goalkeeper — who had already warmed up with Pochettino earlier in the day — went to the Los Angeles Angels' stadium and genuinely looked the part. Fast, fluid, controlled. He's a goalkeeper who uses his hands for a living, so perhaps no surprise, but he was in a different class to the rest.
- Thomas Tuchel was no embarrassment either. The England manager threw a clean strike from the full mound at a Kansas City Royals game, with Harry Kane and company watching from the stands. A result Tuchel will take.
- Billy Gilmour showed up at the Miami Marlins game wearing a knee brace after picking up an injury in Scotland's pre-tournament friendly against Curaçao — and still threw with decent pace. Commitment to the bit.
- Aitana Bonmatí, three-time Ballon d'Or winner and the engine behind Spain's 2023 Women's World Cup triumph, held her own with a looping pitch at the San Diego Padres. Composed, as ever.
- Trinity Rodman beat Pochettino to the Mariners' mound earlier this summer, throwing an arcing pitch that cleared the plate cleanly.
- Mario Balotelli was Balotelli — languid, unhurried, doing things entirely on his own terms at a New York Mets game. Whether it was good is almost beside the point.
Turner wins, nobody embarrasses themselves
The honest ranking: Turner first, Tuchel second, everyone else bunched together in the «respectable effort» category. No one bounced it in the dirt. No one threw it into the crowd. By the standards of celebrity first pitches, this was a remarkably competent group.
Pochettino, for his part, has bigger things to focus on. Belgium in the round of 16, without his top striker, on home soil. The first pitch was the easy part.
