Round and round the players went – singing, smiling, soaking it up. The crowd in Seattle, which had marched to the ground and later caused tremors that registered on the nearby seismic stations, burst into song.
During a victory lap around Lumen Field, Mauricio Pochettino and his USMNT were serenaded with John Denver’s ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads.’ A few minutes earlier? Bon Jovi blared out of the speakers of this stadium.
It was a stirring climax to a deafening day in Seattle, when the USA beat Australia to seal a place in the knockout rounds. If victory over Paraguay lit the fuse on a home World Cup, this 2-0 win set the American leg of this tournament ablaze. ‘Even if I am not American, after the game, I was emotional,’ Pochettino said.
And yet for all the energy and excitement that spilled out of the stands, neither song quite matched the moment. For one? The USMNT is already home and these players are being carried to the round of 32 on the shoulders of their people. As for Bon Jovi? Well, the US is not halfway there. Not yet. But nor, at this point, is this team living on a prayer.
Pochettino has been urging the country to believe for some time. Why not us? That has been the message from the USMNT coach before and during this World Cup. This was the day when the mood changed. When America began to dream. So could this golden generation really go all the way?
Zlatan Ibrahimovic thinks so. The legendary striker was asked if the USA can win the World Cup. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘If you didn’t believe before, I will repeat: start believing. They have the country behind them, and when you have this support, it’s difficult to beat you.’
Mauricio Pochettino and his players were serenaded after their World Cup win over Australia
The USMNT enjoyed a lap of honor as the crowd sung ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’
The atmosphere was electric in Seattle, where the USA booked its place in the round of 32
Those comments were put to some of Pochettino’s players shortly after full-time in Seattle. Do they believe?
‘I don’t think it’s ridiculous,’ said defender Chris Richards, who was immense as the US kept Australia at bay in the second half. ‘We want to lift a trophy by the end of this.’
Auston Trusty agreed. ‘That’s our mindset,’ he said. ‘I don’t think you enter this tournament not to have that mindset. To have [Ibrahimovic] say that about us, that’s amazing. But I’m sure he knows as well, it’s game-by-game.’
Midfielder Weston McKennie added: ‘America is built on belief… it doesn’t really matter what anyone on the outside says. We will always believe in ourselves.’
The US has not reached the last four since 1930. Its best finish of the modern era? A quarterfinal, 24 years ago. Pochettino now has as many World Cup wins (two) as any USMNT coach in history. It took him just two games.
’We need to keep believing and approach every single day like we did from day one: Believing we could win,’ Pochettino said. ‘Knowing we need to work really hard but enjoying the time together, building our journey every day. My dreams have not changed too much.’
Who can blame this team or this country for letting their minds wander? The USMNT has been one of the most impressive teams of the tournament. Few countries are playing with such intensity and clarity. New heroes are emerging, too.
Defender Alex Freeman scored the US’ second against Australia and afterwards both Pochettino and Tim Ream said the 21-year-old can become one of the best right backs in the world.
Villarreal defender Alex Freeman scored the USA’s second against Australia in Seattle
Paraguay’s win over Turkey, meanwhile, means America has topped Group D with a game to spare. That will allow Pochettino to rest players against Turkey; Christian Pulisic, who missed the Australia game through injury, now has nearly two weeks to recover before the round of 32.
But there are also plenty of reasons for fans to temper their optimism. It is just two games, after all.
Far tougher tests lie in wait in the knockout rounds and neither Paraguay nor Australia did much to expose possible weaknesses in Pochettino’s team – question marks remain over how goalkeeper Matt Freese and his back four will stand up to an elite team on the biggest stage.
After all, in four pre-World Cup friendlies against Belgium, Portugal, Senegal and Germany, the USA conceded a combined 11 goals.
One thing this group does have, however, is home advantage. That hasn’t always been the case – even on American soil. The USMNT has occasionally felt like the road team in its own land. Not now.
Over the past few weeks, ever since the World Cup warm-up game against Senegal in Charlotte, an ever-strengthening bond has been forged between this team and its people.
‘This is new and I think that’s probably why it feels so special – because it is unlike anything that any of us have ever felt before, it’s unlike anything any of us have ever played in before,’ Ream said.
‘We’ve talked about, within our group for a long time, there’s so many games that aren’t a World Cup that you don’t feel like you have home-field advantage, you don’t feel like you have the crowd support.’
Freeman is mobbed by his teammates following his first-half goal at Lumen Field on Friday
Ream added: ‘When you have a partisan crowd in full support of the home team, it can get on top of you. You definitely feel it – we feel it as the home team. You can feel that energy and that buzz… that’s why organizations and countries bid for hosting [World Cups]. Because it does play a role and it can be an important role if you use it.’ Just look at Russia’s run to the quarterfinals in 2018.
At 38, Ream has seen most things. He is not easily caught up in the occasion. But as the team gathered in a huddle following victory over Australia, the captain broke down in tears.
Pochettino, meanwhile, led the crowd in chants of ‘U-S-A.’ This is what he wanted when he went to see a college football game and wondered when – or if – soccer could generate the same buzz. Here was his answer.
Outside Lumen Field, nearly 70,000 fans poured on to the streets and into bars. One busker did his best to fuel their dreams. ‘We are the champions,’ he sang. Steady on, son. But whatever happens from now, this USMNT has made memories that live with supporters on their journey home down country roads.
