The US was down to 10 men, clinging to a 1-0 lead in a World Cup knockout. During a break , Pochettino gathered them and said: "(This is) the moment to show it's not only empty words when we say we are a family. To compete, to fight for each other." It Sounds like a cliché, but science backs it up. How adversity can bond and unlock a team. When we face adversity, especially if it seems unfair, it can either make our internal governor throw in the towel or release the reins to give us more effort. If we act like the situation is rigged, that we're doomed, that we're out there alone, we often default to "why try mode." We have a built in excuse for losing and the odds seem overwhelming. If we treat it as we're the underdogs now, our backs are against the wall but we've got the folks to get it done, we increase effort. Our brain says "this is worth it, let's give it a shot." A lot of that comes down to the family line... Every team says they're a family. But most of the time it's akin to a poster on the wall or a cheap slogan no one really believes. It sounds good, but has nothing behind it. You don't really find out if its a slogan or not until reality smacks you in the face. When you're exhausted, down a man, and protecting yourself would be so much easier than covering for your teammate. Psychologists have a name for what turns a group into a family: Identity fusion. Go through something hard enough together and the line between "me" and "us" starts to blur.cWe start to share perception, action, and even a feeling of oneness. And once you're fused, you'll do things for the group you'd never do for yourself. In some cases this can be very bad: think cults and groups where we throw our individual values out the door and follow the group. But in sport, it can be what takes us to another level. It's the same force behind soldiers and lifelong teammates. We bond by going through something real, that you can't manufacture, that forces us to put down the facade and be who we are. "One man's down, the next guy steps up… We're more than just one player. We're more than just 11 players." USMNT player Chris Richards What Pochettino has done is get guys actually believing it. Again, next man up is cliche. But if you can get folks to truly believe that your teammates are your brothers, that you've got each others back, it increases the effort you can give when you face a challenge. We evolved to share the load. It's baked into our DNA. And for good reason, if we were alone by ourselves hunting on the savanna, we we're probably screwed. Research found that when we simply hold a loved ones hand, it decreases the threat network in our brain, helping us handle a painful electric shock better. Oxford researchers found that when rowers trained together, moving in unison, they were able to tolerate nearly twice as much pain as when they were training alone. When the "I" becomes "we," the burden of pain is distributed. It's the entire reason the US military does long marches and drills in unison. We call it "muscular bonding," and research shows it helps create that sense of oneness. It's not as simple as doing hard things together. It's cultivating an underlying culture where trust is the foundation. Where you will sometimes screw up, but you know that those around you support you and want you to be better. It's knowing that the leader has the actual best interest at heart, that they care, and aren't just doing it for the paycheck, the reward, or their ego. It's the hardest thing in sport to create. But when you do, it's magic. Adversity tests us. It reveals who we are, both as an individual and a group. If you've got the culture right, it pulls you together. There's not much more powerful than a shared sense of us against the world. A family isn't the guys who celebrate together. It's the ones who, when a teammate goes down, look around and think: my turn to carry more.