Last summer's Copa America is not a tournament that will be fondly remembered by either the United States or Mexico.
Neither team made it out of the group stage, and both federations fired the men tasked with leading those squads -- managers Gregg Berhalter and Jaime Lozano -- within six days of one another.
In their places arrived Mauricio Pochettino and Javier Aguirre, respectively, to rejuvenate the regional powers ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup that they will co-host along with Canada.
Pochettino, with a glittering managerial résumé that includes spells in charge of Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, was billed as the man-management savant who would unlock the potential of this golden generation of American players.