Jonathan Logan
Chief Copy Editor
The 2014 FIFA World Cup saw the United States men’s national team make an impressively deep run into the round of 16 after surviving the “Group of Death” — Germany (who would go on to win the tournament), Portugal and Ghana. Then, in remarkable U.S.A. soccer style, the US failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Many American soccer fans were left wondering how we went from nearly beating Portugal (the 2016 Euro Cup winner) and Cristiano Ronaldo to losing to Trinidad and Tobago in true England vs. Iceland style. The sun has set on that era and on the players who made up the backbone of American soccer in those years: Landon Donavon, Michael Bradley, Tim Howard and Jermaine Jones, among others.
Christian Pulisic burst onto the world football stage in 2018. A product of the legendary Borussia Dortmund (a top four club in Germany) Academy, Pulisic has since moved to one of England’s “big four” clubs, Chelsea FC, on a salary of $73 million. I had the honor of seeing Pulisic play in person twice in Cleveland in 2018 and 2019 during the Gold Cup. Traditionally, the U.S. men’s soccer team has been filled with our best homegrown talent that generally plays in our own league, Major League Soccer (MLS). Watching Pulisic — born in Hershey, PA — play alongside our MLS stars was like watching someone tango at a high school homecoming.
Pulisic’s style and the difference he made in those games came down to his temperament. He was as European and as well-versed in soccer as any old Master Oogway on the U.S. team at the time. Now, the men’s national team needs more Christian Pulisics. We need more tango, more players playing in Europe and South America. That is what we have now. The problem for the historical giants of international soccer (Germany, England, Spain, Italy) recently has been too much diversity; too many unique identities and styles from too many different leagues all clashing in a storm even the greatest managers can not hope to control. Young programs (U.S.A., Iceland, Egypt, South Korea) need more diversity. We have the luxury of not having any egotistical superstars who have to carry the weight of an entire generation. The U.S. has raw, unfettered talent in Europe. It is time to tap into it.
Weston McKinnie, a 22-year-old prodigy from Texas, just finalized a big $22 million dollar move to the titan Italian club Juventus FC. Juventus has sat atop the Italian Serie A for years and made appearances in the most prestigious club competition in the world, the UEFA Champions League final, consistently for the past two decades.
In the English Premier League (EPL), arguably the best and toughest league ever, Owen Otasowie, a 20-year-old product of Wolverhampton FC’s academy, has made four appearances at midfield and striker at the highest level of EPL football. Just to the north, in Manchester, Zac Steffen plays for Manchester City. Steffen is currently the number two keeper at City, where only Brazil’s number one, Ederson, plays ahead of him. Steffen has started many games for the men’s national team and has more or less cemented his spot as Tim Howard’s replacement. In Germany, a 22-year-old Tyler Adams plied his trade at RB Leipzig, who currently sit second in the Bundesliga, and trounced Manchester United in a big Champions League win this winter.
All told, there are 48 American footballers playing in Europe. Many of them are bright young sparks that could completely reinvent American soccer as we prepare for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. I want to see Gregg Berhalter, the men’s national team head coach, tap into this incredible talent pool we have playing in Europe. Nearly 15 different leagues are represented by each of our players abroad. As a relatively young program, the United States needs to embrace the diversity in playstyles, soccer temperament and personality at its disposal. We can ill-afford to fall by the wayside and turn inward with our soccer identity. We are one nation, one team, but we are not this without first being international in our approach to this beautiful game.