The U.S. Men’s National Team put on a show Tuesday night during its 5-1 rout of Uruguay in front of 26,110 fans at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium.
Scoring started early in the friendly against the world No. 15 team, as midfielder Sebastian Berhalter earned his first international goal in the 17th minute off a devastating short feed from defender Sergiño Dest.
USMNT got three more goals— including two from Orlando City’s Alex Freeman—before halftime during a match that saw head coach Mauricio Pochettino reinvent his starting lineup by making nine changes to the lineup that started in last Saturday’s 2-1 win over Paraguay.
The match also featured resurgent USMNT star Gio Reyna, who supped on in the 61st minute and assisted on a goal by midfielder Tanner Tessmann just seven minutes later.
In the days ahead of the game, former USMNT star Oguchi Onyewu (now Vice President of Sporting for the United States Soccer Federation), talked about the national team gaffer, the World Cup, and more.
See more photos from Tuesday’s game and our Q&A with Onyewu below.
Do you travel with the team, or do you just kind of link up with them? Are you pretty close to the team on a regular basis?
I’m close with all the teams.
I ask because I wonder if you got to see Gio return to camp.
I’ll see Gio when I get to camp next week. I have other obligations, with the 27 other teams.
This might not be a fair question, but there’s so many different sides of U.S. Soccer, and so many people who aspire to put the uniform on. Do you find yourself drawn to any particular segment of the system, or find yourself, like most pleased or happy you know, fulfilled as a sporting person?
No. I think, like in all sports for me—especially in my seat now, and in a number of my previous seats, where I was a former player on the national team, I was a board member for the Federation, and now an employee—it’s really interesting to see and be there firsthand for the evolution. To see the changes throughout the decades, throughout the years, to see the positive growth as it pertains to just soccer in this country, and how it’s catching on, and how now the masses are knowledgeable of the sport. Before we almost had to force feed this sport to the masses. So for me, it’s amazing to see the growth and to be a part of it, to be a contributor in that.
As you mentioned, you played, and now you’re in the front office. Thinking about Pochettino—what are some things that maybe journalists and fans don’t understand about having such a big name with the strong connection to the Premier League as the gaffer?
He’s a coach of such high profile and he’s not the only one. We have [USWNT coach] Emma Hayes, who’s an extremely high profile coach; we now for the first time in our history have two extremely high profile individuals on both the men’s and the women’s side. Obviously [former USWNT coach] Jill Ellis has her history, she’s won two World Cups and was extremely high profile in the women’s game. To now have it on both sides, it’s surreal. It speaks to the volumes of the big swings that were taken at U.S. Soccer, the bold ambitions that we have to really advance the game and eventually to really compete at the top tier of sports, eventually, in our future.
There are dozens of reasons the roster will look the way it does in Tampa. How much do you worry about the club not having enough time together for team building? Or is there enough time? I mean, you’ve lived through it, you’ve gone through all this stuff. Does it concern you at all that they’re not getting to be together?
I think this is the nature of national team. It’s distinctively different than club team. You’re not there every day, you’re not playing every week, you’re not playing every three days. The national team mechanism is unique in itself. You play in the FIFA windows, you play tournaments, play competition. I don’t see that as a problem, because this is how it’s always been. It’s the same issue for us as it is for every other country around the world. I think the main objective—and an opportunity and goal—is to have everybody on the same page, right? When everybody is firing on all cylinders, understanding the responsibilities, understanding the objective, understanding what’s at stake, I think that’s when things start to click, and you start to see magic happening on the field.
How much groaning are you hearing from people in your life about not being able to get tickets to some of the World Cup games?
I think everybody has asked questions about how to access tickets for the World Cup, and, you know, there’s the whole lottery and everything. I do believe FIFA will present opportunities—probably not sooner than people would like—but eventually to be able to have the best event that they can possibly have. So I’m waiting to see, waiting to see that.
Are you telling people not to contact you? Like, ‘It’s not me, man.’
I’m not telling anybody not to contact me, but you know, I’m not organizing the tournament, so I can’t provide, perhaps, the detailed answers that they’re seeking.
You’ve navigated these questions pretty well, so I am curious about your answer today. Can you say anything about some of President Trump’s threats to move World Cup host cities and how that affects the Federation?
I don’t speak on politics. That’s not my wheelhouse. That’s not the lane I’m going to even try to touch. But I do know that’s obviously on people’s minds, but that’s not for me to comment on.
Riffing off that political thing a bit. Guys come to the locker room with their own politics, their own views on the world, but athletes at this level, perhaps more than the general public, are able to put those things aside to work towards a common goal. How are they able to do that?
I think it goes along with what I said originally. It’s, “Are we all on the same page? Do we all have the same objective?” And if so, then we’re working towards the same goal, right? Regardless of what your beliefs are, political beliefs, or whatever—that’s all extra outside of what we’re focusing on right now within these 90 minutes of the game. We’re coming together—whether it be soccer, whether it be American football, whether it be basketball—I think it’s the same concept. It’s the same sentiment that you are an athlete, you know, this is your game. This is actually your opportunity to galvanize people to a singular thing.
Soccer is the biggest sport in the world, and someone that’s played overseas—I lived in Europe and played in Europe for almost 16 years—seeing how much the sport can bring people together and just forget everything else, right? You see kids playing in the streets. You see the old people playing in the streets. You see people talking about the games on the weekend that have no idea who they are, but when they see a jersey, they start up a conversation, because you’re supporting the same team. Everything around that person that doesn’t pertain to the sport is irrelevant in that moment. And I think that that’s the beauty of sport—it’s blind. And sport, it’s a beautiful thing in all of its different shades—basketball, football, tennis, hockey, lacrosse, everything, soccer. I don’t know who invented the concept of sports, or the different sports, but I think it’s unbelievable, because you look at teams, the makeup of teams, and there’s such diversity within a team. Think about our U.S. team, it’s really indicative of our nation. It’s such a diverse group of boys that had various experiences growing up, from location to geographical background to everything. So independent of that, they’re all playing on a field together for the same common goal, collaborating, and being world athletes, I think it’s an incredible thing.
You may dispute this criticism that I hear sometimes that the Federation is not taking a more active role in building program standards for youth clubs and rewarding clubs that follow them? We all love watching the national team, but sometimes we wonder—are these the best athletes we have in the country? Are we really making sure that the best athletes are getting opportunities? Is that a fair criticism?
I think the Federation wants to do our part in working with everybody. I think we want to be able to collaborate with the professional leagues. We want to be able to collaborate with the semi-pro leagues, the academy leagues or youth leagues.
We want this nation to really be together in a common goal, commonality in let’s make this sport accessible, let’s make this sport widespread, and let’s make this sport the best that it can be. And let’s hopefully get to that point where we can collectively say we’re one of the top countries in the world in regards to our performance.
So U.S. Soccer is 100% on board with collaborating and working with and listening to every level of the pyramid or funnel or pathway—whatever word you want to put around it. That’s what I think it’s fantastic. I’ve been here over two years now, and I’ve seen the reception of this new U.S. Soccer from the landscape. I think it’s fantastic. And I think it speaks volumes to our leadership. It speaks volumes to our president, Cindy Cone. It speaks volumes to our CEO JT Batson, and the way that they’re thinking differently from the past. I always tell people, you can’t grow if you’re not changing. Nobody grew and remained the same. And I think this U.S. Soccer Federation, organization, is growing. We’re changing, and it’s for the better. It’s for the better, and it’s for the global good of the sport.
You talked about other leagues and other soccer entities. Tampa Bay is the home of the Rowdies. The USL is headquartered here now. I think the USL voted to introduce promotion and relegation within its own leagues. You think the MLS will follow suit and start working with other tiers?
You’re not going to get me to comment on anything that I’m not a part of. I don’t work for the MLS. I can’t speak for somebody, just like they can’t speak for me.
I’m not sure how to frame this question. I’m 40, you’re 43. You were a guy who a person could watch play and learn how to be tough on the pitch in a physical way. Maybe I’m a boomer or something, but younger folks, are they soft? This USMNT side doesn’t really have a physicality problem—and this is going to sound judgmental especially because of all the pressure on young people in general—but this next generation is different, right?
Yes, they’re different, but they should be different. This goes to my point—you’re not growing if you’re not changing. My generation was completely different than the one before me, that generation was completely different than the one before them, and so on and so forth.
We had to deal with variables that this generation did not have to deal with, and vice versa. The variables that they’re dealing with and living with, and the pressures that they have and they’re managing, I can’t fathom, because I didn’t have to live through that, right? I don’t think it’s fair for individuals to really scrutinize an environment that they’ve never experienced. I think it’s more important to try to try to put yourself in their shoes.
How do you help them? You know? How do you give them the tools to actually be successful? As opposed to saying, ‘Hey, you need to be like us.’ That’s never going to work. That’s like screaming at an orange to become an apple, or yelling at your dog that it’s not a cat. There’s some things in this world that you just can’t change, and rather than change it, how do you make it the best that it can be?
I think these players and athletes are fantastic. I think they’re phenomenal. I think they’re much better than our generation, and that’s the evolution of sport. The next generation should always be better than the former generation, right? So I’m really optimistic and excited about not just this generation, but the ones to follow. We have a lot of talent in our youth system as well that a lot of fans that only follow the senior teams haven’t even recognized yet. So for us, it’s about, how do we create, and maintain, and sustain that pipeline of young, talented players and always improve that pipeline and player pool? So that’s what our big focus is.
Last question as we get ready to leave here—how many more years do you think you have left to put in? Do you want to rest? Do you even think about really retiring?
Oh, man, I love this game. I think this game has given so much to me. And for me, it’s about giving back to it. So everything I do is trying to give back to this game that gave me my platform, gave me my career, and ultimately gave me the life that I’ve had as an adult. So no time soon, I’ll say that, no time soon you won’t see me out of this game anytime soon.
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