“Do you feel pressure?” Tyler Adams asks teammate Weston McKennie. “I don’t feel pressure.” Speaking before the USMNT’s first major tournament on home soil since 2016, McKennie echoes the sentiment of his captain.
“I wouldn’t say it’s added pressure, I would say it’s added excitement. We spend our careers playing over in Europe and we come back [to the US] every once in a while with the national team. I think the World Cup and Copa América allow friends and family that maybe haven’t been able to see us play in a long time to watch us, and also fans who can’t get over to Europe to watch a game or to even introduce new people to the game.
“Ultimately, we want to build this sport right here in America and there’s no better way to do that than to bring the sport to America itself.” This crop of USMNT players is billed as a ‘ golden generation ’, a moniker with an up-and-down history when it comes to national sides. But whereas so called golden generations in England, Germany, Portugal and Belgium had to deal with on-field pressure, this US group must also carry the burden of growing a sport in a country where soccer is not the main player.
The US will be a focus for international soccer in the coming years. First up, this summer’s Copa América. From there, it will host the 2025 Club World Cup, the 2026 World Cup (jointly with Canada and Mexico) and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
The US and Mexico have also expressed interest in co-hostin.
