Politics occupies an increasingly oppressive sphere in the United States, and the national team cannot escape it. After two decades of disappointment, the host team of the biggest World Cup in history faces the dual challenge of winning over a tense country and competing successfully on a historically unfavorable stage. Leading the operation is Mauricio Pochettino (Murphy, Argentina; 54), arguably the national team coach with the most complex mission of all.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro had planned to meet New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, during his trip to the United States this week. Petro traveled to the U.S. on Wednesday to assume the presidency of the United Nations Security Council. In the days that followed, he intended to hold a private meeting with Mamdani, a rising progressive figure who, like him, is a staunch opponent of Donald Trump. The photo of the two left-wing leaders carried great symbolic weight: for Mamdani it would have been his first meeting with a head of state; for Petro it would have meant sealing an alliance with Democrats on the eve of decisive elections for Colombia. The meeting never took place. The reason: the White House made sure of it.
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