Pochettino uses hydration break as tactical timeout despite FIFA's new coaching crackdown

Mauricio Pochettino used a scheduled hydration break to deliver laptop-aided tactical instructions to his USA squad during their 3-2 friendly victory over Senegal, exploiting a natural gap in play just days after FIFA moved to restrict coaching access during goalkeeper injury stoppages.

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) introduced the measure to stop teams using feigned goalkeeper injuries as unofficial timeouts — a tactic that has become increasingly common at club level over the past year. FIFA referees’ chief Pierluigi Collina confirmed all 48 World Cup squads had been briefed at a dedicated workshop.

“We told them that referees will be proactive,” Collina said. “They will not allow the two teams to go to the benches when a goalkeeper is lying on the ground injured. The goalkeeper has the right to be injured, but the players do not have the right to leave the field of play to have a sort of timeout with their respective coaches.”

Collina added: “It’s quite weird that there really is only the referee, the physio and the goalkeeper on the field of play. All the other players leave the pitch, and it is not good.”

The three-minute hydration break built into each half of World Cup matches had already raised questions about how much practical impact the new rule would have, and Pochettino’s use of the interval — gathering his players around the dugout with a laptop to illustrate his instructions — illustrated the point. The USA went on to win the match 3-2.

Beyond the coaching restrictions, the World Cup will introduce several other rule changes designed to reduce time-wasting. A five-second countdown will apply to throw-ins, with possession awarded to the opposition if the deadline is not met; the same principle applies to goal kicks, where a corner can be given for deliberate delays. Substituted players will have 10 seconds to leave the field at the nearest exit point — failure to comply means the incoming substitute must wait at least one minute to enter, leaving the team temporarily reduced to ten players. That scenario has already occurred in Iceland’s friendly against Japan.