"We want to change how the world views American soccer" - Antonee Robinson
The United States men’s national team’s training camp started on Monday in Austria to prepare for their exhibition match against Jamaica during this international break.
The United States men’s national team has young and talented players and many believe this is their ‘golden generation’ to make a run at the 2022 and 2026 FIFA World Cups. The core of this team is playing in Europe’s top-flight leagues and they have become key players in their respective teams.
The USMNT is preparing for their first exhibition match of the year in Austria. The current roster includes several players from various European teams such as: Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Sergiño Dest (FC Barcelona), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Zack Steffen (Manchester City), Yunus Musah (Valencia), Antonee Robinson (Fulham) and the list goes on and on.
Changing the world's perception of the USMNT
The 26-man roster has been practicing under coach Gregg Berhalter this week because on 25 March they will face Jamaica and three days later they will conclude this month's FIFA international break against Northern Ireland. After the training session ended on Tuesday, Robinson spoke about this ‘golden generation’ and their goal for the near future.
"I think ultimately all the players that are being called we all share the same goals. That we want to win trophies, we want to change the way that the world sort of views American soccer,” he said. “You know, there are a lot of young hungry players, and we're excited to try and win stuff, and a lot of time is coming off in the summer, and then obviously qualifying afterwards. It gives us a great opportunity to showcase that."
The United States men’s national team will have a very busy 2021 because they will be playing in several competitions in the next few months. They have to prepare for the CONCACAF Nations League, the Gold Cup and 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying, so there is no room for improvisation for Berhalter's team.
"Obviously there was a pretty big impact with covid stopping a lot of the games early on in the season. So we haven't had much time to play together and sort of gel as a team, but I think since Greg's been coach, he's had a pretty clear mindset of how he wants to play. And just the work rate that he wants the team to play with and the hunger and desire," Robinson said.