The U.S. men’s national soccer team scheduled a pair of friendly matches against two top European teams. After a 5-2 loss against Belgium, the U.S. is hoping to avoid the same against Portugal.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
There is one word hanging over the U.S. men’s national soccer team these days – pressure. Pressure on players to make the cut for the FIFA World Cup roster, pressure to win games once they get there and grow the game of soccer in the U.S. NPR’s Becky Sullivan reports that pressure is getting turned up even higher tonight.
BECKY SULLIVAN, BYLINE: A few days ago, the best American soccer player in a generation faced question after question from reporters about pressure before finally Christian Pulisic acknowledged it.
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CHRISTIAN PULISIC: I mean, you guys want me to feel the pressure. That’s for sure.
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SULLIVAN: It’s not just that the World Cup kicks off just over two months from now, but it’s hosted here at home in the U.S. for the first time in more than 30 years.
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PULISIC: There’s pressure. I feel it, yes. Like, it’s there. But it’s nothing that I can’t handle. I’m going to, yeah, attack it head-on. We are, as a team. That’s – I don’t need to do it by myself. That’s the beauty of it.
SULLIVAN: This week, players gathered in Atlanta to train together, juggle a mountain of media commitments – oh, and play a couple little games against two of Europe’s top teams, Belgium and Portugal. Here’s the England-born U.S. defender Antonee Robinson.
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ANTONEE ROBINSON: The importance of this trip isn’t really the media stuff. It’s prepping on and off the pitch and kind of sending the message that we can compete at the top level and show teams who are coming to our home soil that we’re a team to be scared of.
SULLIVAN: The two games in Atlanta were scheduled to see how this U.S. team stacks up against serious competition. Both Belgium and Portugal are ranked in the world’s top 10. The mood before the weekend was optimistic. The U.S. hadn’t lost a match since September, but Saturday’s game against Belgium was a wake-up call.
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SULLIVAN: At first, it looked like the U.S. had a real chance. The Americans took a 1-0 lead when Weston McKennie scored off a corner kick from Robinson.
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SULLIVAN: But just six minutes later, Belgium tied it up. And not long after halftime, the Americans fell apart.
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SULLIVAN: The final score? 5-2. Afterward, a glum-faced Pulisic told reporters he was disappointed.
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PULISIC: We’re going to have to beat teams like this if we want to have a chance to go far in the tournament. There’s no doubt. So that’s why these – we want to have these good tests.
SULLIVAN: For team coach Mauricio Pochettino, the biggest takeaway was how well the U.S. matched up with Belgium in the first half before their intensity fell off in the second.
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MAURICIO POCHETTINO: I am so happy that that happened, what happened, because it’s still time to realize.
SULLIVAN: To realize, he says, that the team must play with aggressiveness and passion in both halves in every game as though it’s the World Cup final.
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POCHETTINO: The players need to believe in that. If not, this is what we are doing here? No. But this is to respect and feel the responsibility to try and lead something different.
SULLIVAN: The opportunity to do something different is tonight against No. 5 – Portugal. Not every national team schedules such tough games before the World Cup. U.S. defender Chris Richards says it’s the right call.
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CHRIS RICHARDS: It’s best that we learn these lessons now, before the World Cup, than us getting there and learning the hard way.
SULLIVAN: The stakes are high for the players tonight. It’s the last opportunity they have to impress Pochettino before he chooses the final 26-man World Cup roster in May. Richards says he has another, bigger goal in mind.
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RICHARDS: We want to also show the world why we want to be one of the soccer powerhouses that people talk about. So, you know, it takes good performances, and, you know, I think we can build off of the last game. But, you know, when it comes to World Cup time, I know that we’ll be ready.
SULLIVAN: So there are lessons to learn, but not much time to learn them. The World Cup kicks off in June.
Becky Sullivan, NPR News, Atlanta.
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