The USMNT's devastation of missing the 2018 World Cup in Russia has faded. Time helps – as does the realization that the darkest time in U.S. soccer’s modern era might have paved the way for the brightest, nrarmour writes.
and Jesus Ferreira have all been part of the team since 2020. Only two players, Joe Scally and Haji Wright, made their first appearances this year."It definitely was an accelerator," Berhalter said of the 2018 debacle."It also gave us the opportunity to start to look deeper into the player pool.
"I was really happy with how far we’ve come in the past couple years," Pulisic said this summer."I think this team is really happy with the progress we’ve made, but we know we can improve. And we’re going to have to improve to reach our goal, and that’s to compete to win the World Cup. That’s what we want to do."
That doesn’t happen by accident. Berhalter has been very intentional about the personalities and character of the players he selects, and then putting them in situations that will strengthen their bond. There are dinners out when they’re on the road. A trip to NASA. Awful as the COVID pandemic was, it also brought the young Americans closer. Players were stuck at home and those in Europe, in particular, were craving connections to back home. Jokes and messages were exchanged on social media. Some players FaceTimed. Fantasy football teams were formed.
Berhalter also created a Leadership Group – Adams, McKennie, Pulisic and Zimmerman are core members – and gave it latitude to make decisions for the team. It’s allowed players to have a say in everything from curfew times to when they practice to who wears the captain’s armband. None of this guarantees that the USMNT will go far at the World Cup in Qatar. Their group is difficult, and it’s impossible to predict how the young team will react to its first World Cup experience.
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