US players and coach Mauricio Pochettino represent the diversity of America on July Fourth

SEATTLE (AP) — Less than 24 hours removed from throwing out the first pitch at a Seattle Mariners game alongside his team, U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino extended some unexpected birthday wishes.

They were not directed toward forward Folarin Balogun, who turned 25 on Friday, but rather the country the two are representing at the World Cup. Saturday marked the 250th anniversary of American independence, which was cause for celebration in Pochettino’s eyes before practice at Husky Soccer Stadium.“Happy birthday,” Pochettino said to reporters as he circled the pitch.

“It’s 250 years, no?” The 54-year-old coach, who was born in Argentina and lives in Spain, has fully embraced the American experience this summer. Pochettino has joined tens of thousands of fans in singing John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” after U.

S.wins — all while not letting his players forget his roots. “He’s 200 percent Argentine,” U.

S. captain Tim Ream said. “I think he’s obviously taken to the culture, and at the same time has added his bit of culture to us as well.

The group is such a melting pot of staff, players. And, it’s just an incredible representation of who we are as people. But, he definitely won’t let us forget that he still is Argentine at the end of the day.”

Pochettino isn’t the only member of the team with roots outside the United States. Six players on the roster were born abroad, while others like Balogun were raised in Europe.Balogun was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn to Nigerian parents, but raised in London.

He could have played for any of three countries, yet chose to play for the U.S.“This is a unique experience for me,” Balogun said, “being in the World Cup in your home nation.”

Many Americans are still lukewarm about soccer. Its popularity lags behind American football, basketball and baseball.But new polling from Ipsos Sports, provided exclusively to The Associated Press, shows that the World Cup has excited soccer fans and piqued many Americans’ i