Pochettino and Ben Sahar Reunite and Recall Espanyol Days

Mauricio Pochettino, now coaching the United States national team, met up with former Israeli striker Ben Sahar after his team’s strong opening against Paraguay at the 2026 World Cup. The exchange was filmed and shared by Sport 5, and both men looked back on Sahar’s time as a teenage prospect at Espanyol in the first decade of the 2000s.

Sahar opened the conversation by telling Pochettino, “The best coach in the world. I brought you luck. Your English is amazing.” Pochettino replied that Sahar remembered him from Espanyol, when, he said, “My English was nothing. Then I moved to England.”

The Argentine coach then recalled Sahar’s impatience as a young player. “You were so young. You had no patience, he had none, he wanted to play,” Pochettino said. He added that when Sahar was on the bench, the fans used to chant, “Pochettino, Ben Sahar to the lineup,” and that he would tell them no.

The article notes that Sahar was considered one of Israeli football’s biggest prodigies in the early 2000s, and that before and after Chelsea he also spent time at Espanyol, where Pochettino coached him. The full conversation was available in the video attached to the report.