USMNT
Daryl Dike and Alejandro Zendejas hit it off with USMNT
The two forward players have only been training together for two days, but they are developing a connection very quickly.
The United States men’s national team is holding camp in Orlando, Florida ahead of the start of the CONCACAF Nations League fixtures against Grenada (24 March) and El Salvador (27 March). Interim head coach Anthony Hudson called up 24 players for the first international window of the year and he included 13 players that participated at the 2022 World Cup.
New partnership forming
Hudson decided to call up Daryl Dike and Alejandro Zendejas and both of them are quickly developing a connection just two days after meeting each other. Both players have the opportunity to earn a more prominent role in the United States men’s national team during this new World Cup cycle and showcase their talent in the upcoming days.
“In terms of playing with Alex, today’s the first session that I’ve actually been able to do that and it was nice,” said Dike of his new colleague. “In the possession drills, we were on the same team, so things were going well there and I think our team won. We did a finishing drill after.”
“In terms of the opportunity, of course I’m not going to take it for granted, because you always want to be the striker, you always want to come and play whenever you got the chance. You always want to be part of the squad,” added Dike.
Zendejas on Dike and committing to the USMNT
“I forgot to comment about that,” said Zendejas, “but man, you could tell this guy’s a tank, bro. All the balls to him, he’s going to hold it up, do his little magic – it’s fun. It’s fun being here, getting to know all these new guys. Obviously, it’s our first day, but you can tell, it’s good, man.”
“I spoke to my family about it almost every day or every week, because I was getting calls from everywhere,” said the FC Dallas academy product. “But in terms of [rumors] about securing a spot, I don’t think you, or anyone, can be in the position for someone to secure something to you. We have to work on that daily and prove to people that we deserve the opportunity.
“So I don’t know. It was a bunch of chaos that happened over there – people saying stuff that wasn’t true, people saying stuff that was true,” added Zendejas, who also noted his past experiences as a member of the US U-17 national team alongside the likes of Tyler Adams, Luca de la Torre, Christian Pulisic and Auston Trusty helped seal his choice. “But at the end of the day, I just tried not to focus on that, tried to focus on my club team, playing well, and then at the end of the day, I spoke to my family and we decided to represent USA.”