Original subtitles

You're watching "Pulisic"

presented by Michelob Ultra.

Also presented by Volkswagen.

Pulisic!

I'm gonna say a word

and I'd love for you to tell me

what comes to mind when you hear it.

CONCACAF.

Uh...

CONCACAF, that's, uh--

Yeah, there's a lot you could say about that.

In one word? Chaos.

CONCACAF to me is a mystery.

It's always been challenging.

It's a lot, man.

It's different playing down there. I'll say that.

This is a crash course in CONCACAF.

It's like a boxing match.

12th round.

I think it's an underappreciated federation.

One that's probably not talked about very frequently, globally.

Do you know what the acronym stands for?

Yeah, I mean, let me look that up, actually.

Cause I, you know,

Confederation of North, Central America

and Caribbean Association Football.

Like the first and second, third and fourth,

fifth and sixth, whatever letters,

each stand for one of the regions.

It's stupid. I don't know.

It prepares players for everything.

The conditions you're playing in,

the temperatures, the crowds.

Denver's very hot on both sides right now.

You know, I think it's probably

one of the dirtiest regions as far

as on the field and off of it.

The issues we've had traditionally over the years

playing away from home,

the officiating, all of that.

The atmosphere is gonna be different.

The fans are gonna be against you.

You know, it's definitely war.

I played in some games in CONCACAF

where I truly feel like I'm playing another sport at times.

It can be the most sloppy,

physical game that--

that feels like there's just, like, no rules at times.

They were throwing beer on us

and we went in the corner and celebrated,

and Gio got hit with a bottle.

It is an absolute shit show.

This book will be finished when I return.

That's a Christian guarantee.

Can you imagine if the NFL

just allowed all their best players

to go home in the middle of the season

across an ocean to play with another team?

I got my cleats, running shoes.

All the travel and all the fatigue

and all the risk of injury,

everything that goes along with that,

it just doesn't happen outside of this sport.

I travel two time zones and I-- I can't fall asleep.

These guys are traveling across an ocean,

playing at the very highest level

and then often going back very quickly

to do it on the weekends somewhere else.

It is a hugely challenging thing to do.

And I will say it's also something

that's just unique to football.

How you feeling over there?

I'm feeling good, man.

Training's been tough.

Balancing between club and country.

It is a challenge,

especially depending on where you play.

And, you know, nobody cares about

how far you have to travel.

Nobody cares about the field conditions.

Nobody cares about any of that.

They want a result.

And so I always found that to be a bit challenging.

What's going on in here?

To play with the national team,

it can be tough, but truly,

I wouldn't want it any other way.

Ooh...

I mean, this is just what it takes.

And obviously I've known a lot of those guys

for so long as well.

So, I mean, it's like going home

and hanging out with your friends.

I just gotta say.

Yunus, how you doing?

Yeah.

When you're in the thick of games

and you're physically tired,

exhausted from all the travels,

it's really easy to lose perspective and to think,

you know, I'd rather get some rest than play.

But then you know that

if actually you wasn't selected to go to camp

or you wasn't selected for the games,

you would be sad about that, you know,

so we definitely rather be going to the games

and traveling to the U.S. and playing for the national team.

It's a great privilege and great honor.

Pulisic for Aronson.

Back towards Christian Pulisic.

Across goal... put in by Musah!

The first goal!

Mr-- Mr. Musah,

what do you have to say for yourself after that?

What's the feeling like to actually--?

Whenever you have 26 guys on a roster

that all have that same mentality,

that all have that connection,

that all understand the assignment,

you don't just see them as teammates,

you see them as brothers.

And that's what makes it even more enjoyable,

to stand up for each other,

to fight for each other.

Ah, man, when we're-- when we're all together

for national team, it's amazing.

It's a great vibe. I mean, we're all brothers.

I think a lot of us have known each other for-- for years,

so having that bond is very special.

I mean, it's just like one big family,

and it brings out the energy and the vibe.

So, yeah, we have fun, for sure.

Well, thank you all for being here today.

And I think I speak for all of us at U.S. Soccer

when I say that this is a great day for U.S. Soccer.

You know, my whole motivation

to take that position in 2017

was to qualify the team for the World Cup,

and I-- I failed.

And I felt that the right thing to do was to resign.

We are thrilled, absolutely thrilled,

to welcome Gregg Berhalter

as our new head coach for the U.S. Men's National Team.

You know, they just had arguably

the biggest failure in the history of the program,

and I think Bruce knew to step aside,

and I think they needed some new blood.

Thank you. Um, I first want to start

by thanking Carlos Cordeiro

Ernie Stewart, and the board of directors

for giving me this opportunity.

I'm a product of U.S. Soccer.

It means a tremendous amount

to represent your country,

and it was an opportunity that I said to myself,

if I was offered the job,

you know, I can't-- I can't turn it down.

It's something I have to take.

I think when I took the team over

and there was a lot of negativity

surrounding U.S. Soccer at the time.

Let's go. Let's go, let's go!

It was obviously a great disappointment not qualifying.

And, you know, I think that, you know,

a lot was put on Christian's shoulders

that shouldn't have been put on his shoulders.

And, you know, he was angry.

Trinidad.

I think it fueled me for sure

to be in a World Cup that much more,

to get back up and show a little more fight

and have a moment where I was on the field afterwards and said,

"You know what? Now we're going to the World Cup.

This is-- this is real."

Christian is now the one link, and there's that pain,

the agony, the trauma,

which for him, I think was deeply personal.

A lot of understanding him

is to understand what he feels

when he pulls on a U.S. jersey.

That pain and feeling, never again, never again.

Pulisic, he's onside here!

He can finish, and he does finish.

That's the first time he scored

for the new coach Berhalter.

If you look at the team in 2019,

we were intentional about how we're gonna have players around

that understood the culture

of playing for the U.S. Men's National Team

and understood what it was like to compete

in international soccer.

But it was pretty clear

that Christian was gonna be the guy

that you build the team around.

Pulisic on it, onto his right foot--

Pulisic, shot, goal!

Christian Pulisic with goal number 16.

You know, for a player like Christian,

who grew up in the sport intensely focused

on representing the United States at the World Cup,

and having come so painfully close in 2017

at such a young age,

it had to be a harsh reminder that despite

years of success in his lifetime,

just getting there was no easy task for the U.S.

And that's simply because of how World Cup qualifying works.

So it goes like this.

There are different regions throughout the world.

Each region has a designated number of teams

who qualify for the World Cup.

They are Oceania, Asia, Africa, Europe,

South America, and then this crazy region

that we call CONCACAF.

So if you're the U.S., like it or not,

if you want to go to the World Cup,

you have to go through CONCACAF,

which is a region that has historically been dominated

by one country,

which is America's most bitter rival, Mexico.

Mexico! Mexico! Rah, rah, rah!

You know, traditionally in CONCACAF,

meaning prior to, you know, the mid-90s,

it was Mexico, you know, only Mexico.

Goal!

Gol de Mexico!

Mexico is a completely soccer-devoted nation.

So just to give you an idea

of how rough it was for the United States

between the 1950s and the 1960s,

the U.S. played Mexico eight times in World Cup qualifiers.

Somehow, by some miracle,

the United States pulled off two draws.

The other six games were pummelings by Mexico.

I think the years of going at it

have just made this rivalry, like, insane.

We respect Mexico to this day, for sure.

I mean, they have so much talent.

They'll always have a really great fan base,

especially when you play down there.

But also in most places in America, too.

Even if you play them, you're going to get

a really good Mexican crowd.

Even at home. It's tough.

I mean, back then U.S. Soccer said, you know,

we're gonna play our home game in the LA Coliseum.

And I said, "Why would we do that?"

And they said, "We're going to have 90,000 people

and we make a lot of money."

And I said, "Isn't the idea to beat them?"

And that's when we started Columbus.

Here's Diskerud.

Oh, playing to the--

And Landon Donovan makes it two!

It's that score line again.

Columbus, 2-0, USA over Mexico.

It's dos a cero, again.

We played in Columbus, Ohio,

and that was the start of the 2-0 victories over Mexico.

For sure, there's more confidence nowadays, obviously,

having some good results, but, you know,

it's-- it's good to go into games with confidence

and believe that we're gonna beat them.

Quick, hurry, we gotta go.

We gotta go.

You know, everyone's different, right?

Every player is different in terms of

what responsibility, what pressure they want.

Christian's a superstar.

Point blank period.

I think once you start to embrace it,

doesn't necessarily feel like pressure.

You can start to really just thrive in the moment

and enjoy what you're doing, recognizing that, yes,

there is going to be a trickle-down effect.

And yes, there are millions and millions of people

who are expecting something of me

and anticipating me to do something.

And you know, nothing comes easy,

nothing's given to you.

You gotta claw, you gotta scrap.

You gotta be prepared for the unpredictable.

And be ready to rise to the occasion

when your name is called upon.

Here we go, guys.

Right? What are we here for?

Change the way the world views American soccer.

2022 will be the year that we can do that.

Well, the mandate was to qualify for the next World Cup.

That was the mandate.

And it was something where we had to,

you know, get through that first year

and then start integrating guys

in the second year

to get a team ready to qualify

and then compete in the World Cup.

You know, we're at a point now

where we have so many young American players

that are doing well in Europe, playing at big clubs.

Yunus and Christian and Timmy and Weston and Tyler

and Antonee Robinson and Sergino Dest and Ricardo Pepi.

I mean, it goes on and on, right?

But when you have talent like that,

what it means is we can compete.

Mexico topped the CONCACAF qualifying group.

A U.S. win would see Berhalter's men leapfrog El Tri.

USA! USA!

There was a moment we saw

where it was clear that this was

no longer the kid in tears on that pitch

in Trinidad and Tobago,

but now he's the leader of a team.

A team that has traditionally struggled,

quite frankly, with respect.

respect from countries, from media,

fans all around the world,

but also a team that has struggled

for respect in the region,

especially from their arch rival, from Mexico.

You know, some of those comments

that we had heard from Mexico

right before that qualifying game,

they just didn't sit right with me.

I just felt like saying, you know what?

We had had some good results recently against you guys.

We don't want to be you guys.

We're creating our own thing over here.

CONCACAF's collision of heavyweights,

the ultimate rivalry

backed by fervent support.

The night when senses are sharpened,

tensions are heightened.

I remember Aaron Long speaking to him,

and he's like, what if we just, like, wrote

"Man in the mirror" on a shirt?

And everyone was like, it would be crazy

if Christian put that on a T-shirt.

And Christian was like, light bulb.

On comes the prodigal son.

Just over 20 minutes to play.

Sure enough, you know, one of my first touches,

I came into the game and scored and,

you know, gave us the lead in a big qualifying game.

And where does Weah--

Going well!

Christian Pulisic with a decisive moment

against the old enemy

in a World Cup qualifier.

I think, especially in soccer, man,

scoring, you know, it can be such a big moment.

And I feel like after my career,

those are kind of some of the moments

that I'm going to look back and goals

that I'm going to remember the most.

I mean, the "man in the mirror" celebration,

that'll always be an iconic moment.

My mom keeps that shirt secure somewhere back at the house.

I think that was a marquee moment,

certainly in terms of the way that I viewed Christian Pulisic

and I think the way that he was viewed

by others in the game as well.

Just the balls it took

to make that kind of statement against Mexico,

knowing how Mexico have dominated in the region

and to kind of put himself on the map

and take leadership of the team in that way.

He was ready to kind of take on that mantle.

He was ready to be the new leader, the captain

and everything that we expect from captaincy of a team.

He was ready to be that guy.

Here we go, boys.

Let's get a tight little circle right here, baby.

Time to hunt, boys. Time to hunt.

Right from the opening whistle,

we get after these boys.

We do it together, boys.

We do it with the brotherhood.

What do you got, Christian?

Let's punch our tickets to the World Cup.

- One, two, three... - USA!

Fantastic sold out crowd

here at Exploria Stadium.

The U.S. an inch away from the ultimate goal.

By the time the Panama game came around in March,

we knew we had a chance to qualify right there,

and we were gonna take it.

So we-- we definitely, uh,

yeah, walked out on the field

and felt a little different type of confidence.

Only a spot at the World Cup at stake right now.

Pulisic scores!

In the biggest moments is when he did the most for the team.

Yes!

In one of our pivotal qualifiers

and he scored, you know, three goals.

Look at this. Okay. Busting out the worm?

To me, it's really

the culmination of a journey for him.

Christian Pulisic with a chip on his shoulder,

the angry, intense win-at-all-costs...

Shaking off that disappointment of not qualifying

and learning to trust his teammates.

Pulisic! Oh! Around--

A hat trick! What a night!

And really he lean on his teammates.

Even though, you know, he's the biggest star on the team.

You see a guy tonight

that is determined to get this team back.

Truly, the only thing as a kid that I really thought

about and dreamed about was playing in a World Cup.

That was kind of everything

I always wanted to do.

Captain America is leading this team

back to the promised land.

This is just sensational stuff.

And you see a guy that is feeling the moment,

and, boy, has he lived up to it.

Incredible. What a night.

This thing goes to...

A captain performance tonight from the captain...

So once I kind of had that weight lifted off my shoulders

and knew that we were going to World Cup.

It meant everything to me.

- Yeah! - Come here!

Good evening from the 2022 FIFA World Cup draw

in which the USA was drawn into Group B

with England, Iran and the winners between

Wales, Scotland and Ukraine.

We are joined right now by the captain

of the U.S. Men's National Team, Christian Pulisic.

Christian, welcome.

Are you guys able to hear me? Everything?

- Yep. - Okay, good.

You know, a few months before the World Cup begins,

there's this thing called the draw,

and that is where every team competing in this competition

finds out who their opponents

are going to be in the group stage.

Hey, Christian, what are your thoughts of the World Cup

and what do you think this can do

for American soccer on the biggest stage?

I'm-- I'm really excited.

I think it's a great draw.

And sometimes it seems

that things happen for a reason during this draw

where rivals end up being drawn against one another.

And at this draw, I guess it seemed like destiny

that the United States would face

their oldest rival, England.

England.

USA.

And the funny thing about this rivalry

is that they don't actually

compete against each other very often.

When they do, though, it's always noteworthy.

It's obviously a big team,

and I know a lot of these guys,

but I think it's going to be a really nice matchup.

There's also a quirk which,

as somebody who was born in England,

I'm often reminded of this by my American colleagues,

that is that the several times

that they have faced each other in World Cup play,

both on the men's and the women's side,

England, a country known for creating this game of football,

has never actually beaten the United States.

And so now it's up to Christian Pulisic

and his teammates to keep history going

with the entire world watching.

It's gonna be a fun year in the buildup to that

preparing, and, hopefully, the time will fly by.

And here we are,

five years after that night in Trinidad,

your men of the United States are back.

When he walked on the field in Qatar

for the World Cup,

it was kind of a whirlwind for my wife and I.

We were couldn't believe it.

Now that they're here,

the question is how long can they stick around.

For him to get over the ghosts of the past,

finally being able to represent his country on the world stage.

You know, I teared up a little bit.

I know Kelley did.

I definitely remember

this feeling of like,

wow, this is really happening.

And now it's time.

And I really need to get focused

because this is the biggest stage.

And I felt like my whole career

had led up to this one moment.

And then once you get there,

you kind of go into this out of body experience.

So you gotta really calm yourself down

and get back into the zone where you know,

you know you can be at your best and play at your best.

It was just such a long wait

from that moment in 2017.

And that feeling of him being so heartbroken

and just waiting and waiting and waiting

until the next opportunity to even get to the World Cup.

U... S... A!

I think coming up in the U team,

you dream of one day playing in a World Cup.

And, you know, my dad, who is

one of the greatest,

didn't even get the opportunity to play in the World Cup.

So to be in that moment was...

a dream come true for me.

Pulisic on the run.

How's Weah--

Pulisic, lays it through...

Tim Weah!

The United States' first World Cup goal

in eight years.

This is a young team given the keys to the car

of, you know, the national team,

and they have to navigate that.

And through that, there will be pitfalls.

Bale is down. Penalty kick.

Wales with a late chance for an equalizer.

Bale scores.

For them to have to take the reins

so early as they did,

we have to allow them the grace to kind of work through that.

Because I actually look at things on the other side

and I think we're very lucky

to be where we are right now,

to still be in within touching distance

of doing great things.

That's how the game ends.

The United States of America one, Wales one.

What do you expect

Gregg Berhalter's messaging will be?

It's gotta be, "Boys, get your heads up."

Obviously, this is a game that we should have won.

We still got a point out of it.

There's still games to be played,

and we have a big one coming up.

Work to be done.

Start the clock.

Black Friday against England.

I think we were in a really good headspace

going into the game.

I think we went in there really confident.

It's England, it's a World Cup.

That's all that matters.

Of course, you're going into it as the underdog.

And we were a little disappointed

because we wanted to win the first game.

So it was tough to get a draw out of that.

Can this be Christian Pulisic's night?

So I think we kind of played like we had nothing to lose.

We are underway.

Saka, pulled it back!

Oh, and a chance for Kane,

but a heroic block in there from Zimmerman.

A run from Mount!

And the first real test for Turner.

Christian Pulisic now takes it, off the crossbar!

What a strike.

It was such a great match.

I mean, Christian hit the crossbars.

Oh, this game of inches.

The U.S. knocking on the door right now.

Yeah, we put on

a really good performance against England, I thought.

He's trying to get this crowd on their feet.

We didn't play like underdogs and had,

you know, maybe even the better of the game.

I think we had moments that we could have scored

and potentially won the game.

The big question was whether the U.S.

could hang with England.

Well, they've done that.

It finishes here.

England nil, the United States nil.

A draw in the group against England,

probably the toughest opponent.

You're not gonna be disappointed,

but for sure, after how the game went,

I think we definitely came out of it with a feeling like,

"Yeah, dang, we could have beat them for sure."

It was an exciting game.

I think people were on the edge of their seats

and I think kids back home watching this game,

they got inspired.

And there's a lot for our country to be proud of

from this performance.

You know, for us, I think that showed us

what it was all about.

And we went into the last game

with everything in our hands,

so we knew what it was gonna take.

If we win, we go to the next round.

I put so much pressure on myself

in the buildup to this game.

I was like, "Now's your time."

"You got to step up, you got to make the difference."

You know, if you want to be seen as a leader,

you want to be seen, seen as,

you know, one of the best players to put on a U.S. jersey.

This is when you have to perform,

this is when you have to do it.

So I think we were confident for sure,

but there was definitely this weight

of, you know, it's win or you go home.

So some players got to step up

because now-- now's the time.

There's some space here for Pulisic,

already in transition,

Sargent in front of him.

Pulisic gets around the two defenders

and it was the last man back, Hosseini...

Weston plays a really good ball

over to Sergino and I saw the chance

to kind of just get in front of the defender.

It's just one of my strengths,

getting in that six-yard box

and hoping the ball arrives.

And sure enough, it did.

Dest has snuck in behind,

Dest in the middle-- Pulisic!

Scores!

Might have paid the price,

but the U.S. takes the lead.

It was such a weird goal

because it was one of the biggest goals

I've ever scored and I didn't even get to celebrate.

So it was definitely a strange one.

It's Captain America,

lays it all on the line

for his team and for his country.

Obviously I got hit pretty hard, and it was just pain.

And everyone just kind of looked at me

laying down in the goal.

You know, the stadium had this weird buzz to it.

And obviously I was in so much pain, but I was--

I had also had so much adrenaline going

and I was worried.

Did it not count? Was it offside?

There were so many things going in my head.

He's gonna give it a go.

I mean, this would really be something.

You saw how hard that collision was.

My goodness.

The most emotions hitting me at once

for sure in a moment

was right after that goal.

Just it didn't feel real.

Obviously I was in so much pain,

but I think the adrenaline was kind of telling me, like,

"You're fine, like, keep playing."

But the doctors were like,

"No, you need to go to the hospital."

The United States back on the field

in a game they must win against Iran.

Christian Pulisic is not with them.

He has not come back out of the locker room

in the second half.

It was really strange.

I was watching the second half, you know,

all the way to the hospital and then sitting in there

on my doctor's phone and it just seemed surreal.

Like I just scored in this game

and now I'm watching it from the hospital, like--

The last moments, hoping we hold on.

It was just a-- Just an insane experience.

Ramin Rezaeian, stands over it.

An Iran goal will end the Americans' World Cup.

Six minutes to go.

Rezaeian in...!

Wide.

I'm sure that's the face of many at home

as the United States trying to hold on here.

From a hospital bed,

it was still an incredible moment for me.

I was so proud of the way the guys

fought and held on

and proud that I had a part in it.

So we're in the 100th minute of the game.

Only the referee knows how much time is left.

The U.S. players are gassed.

It comes into the box.

Jump-- Flicked header!

It's loose and cleared away by Zimmerman

and the game is over!

Whoo!

Exhale, America, you're on to the knockout rounds.

I remember we called some of the guys

from the hospital and they were all in the locker room

celebrating and the emotions were so high

and, obviously, they were checking in on me.

Gregg, Christian Pulisic,

any update on his status

and just what he means to this team?

No update, but you know,

I've been saying all along

it's a wonderful thing when you're one of your best players,

is also one of the hardest working

and he's certainly that.

Yeah, I just wanted to get back to the hotel

and see everyone and kind of join in in the celebrations.

To see him reach one of his goals,

to play in a World Cup and obviously scoring a big goal

to get them through,

you know, and he was able to celebrate it back

at the team hotel with his-- his teammates and, uh--

Just what a night.

Oh, he's back!

We've been hearing about this kid

since he was 15-years old.

- Yeah. - And you know what?

It's hard to live up to that and he did.

It's funny, all the comments on the goal itself

were like, "Yeah, he sacrificed it all."

You know, "It was such a brave play."

But for me, it wasn't.

It was just a play that I would make, um...

in any game.

To know you're gonna take a spike

or a knee to the abdomen.

And he took it.

And I just thought, wow,

this kid is living up to his legend.

How great is that?

I was still, you know, in a little pain,

but, you know, I think by kind of the second day

after the game, I already knew in my head

there's-- there's no way I wasn't playing.

Christian, what did it feel to you

now that you have that forever moment?

I'm hoping I haven't had that moment yet, to be honest.

I'm hoping it's in front of me, so.

Feels great to be where we're at right now,

but... there's still more to come.

And so the knockout stages

are upon us.

Football at its most unforgiving,

where magic moments or mistakes

are career-defining.

No second chances now.

This is the World Cup

and we were in the knockout round,

so we felt pretty good as a team

and I felt pretty good personally.

So the plan was to just continue to push

and make the difference.

Christian Pulisic gave everybody a scare

with his injury against Iran,

but he is ready and available.

If you win one game like this,

you can see how quickly things can just swing your way

and bang, you're into a quarter final, you're into a semifinal,

and anything's possible.

So I think that was a message going into it.

It's a U.S. team that left a lot on the field,

physically and mentally Tuesday night

to get that win against Iran.

I mean, you're riding on adrenaline

and you just keep this thing going.

It didn't feel like it was a game

that we were just completely outplayed.

You know, we had our chances. I had a chance as well.

Adams is trying to keep it alive.

Pulisic is in!

And the giant Noppert makes the save.

When I think about

Christian Pulisic's World Cup,

obviously think about the goal against Iran.

I think about the goal he missed against the Netherlands.

You see the way Christian gets the ball

10 to eight yards from goal.

I would put money on him finishing that

99 times out of 100.

And I know it has to stick with him.

I lived a lot of tough moments

and played a lot of big games

and that's just kind of the way soccer is sometimes.

Who knows, you go up 1-0,

put them a little bit more on their back foot.

You know, things could have ended differently.

Forced wide to Dumfries

gets the cross, cut back--

And it's a goal for the Netherlands.

All of a sudden felt

like they scored the same goal twice

and the game kind of got out of our hands quickly.

Dumfries working on Adams now cuts back the cross.

Blind is there and the Dutch score

with the final kick of the half.

Such a gut punch for the U.S.

Netherlands 2- USA nil.

When you go through times together as a team

on the biggest stage,

you grow this-- this certain kind of bond

that you just can't explain.

Pulisic's gonna get there.

Pulisic running into the middle to get touch--

It's in! The U.S. has scored!

15 minutes to go!

Game on, puts us right back in it.

I can never explain how I felt

just going to bed each night,

just sitting there in my room

and that feeling in your stomach of, you know,

having to get the job done and knowing that this is it.

Free, out of offside,

third goal for the Dutch.

It feels like everything at the time.

If it ends here, there's a lot to have been proud of

from this young team, but it ultimately was not enough.

Once it was over,

you want to go see your family

and just give them a big hug

and it's just really sad.

Not just because you lost the game.

It's just the whole experience,

the whole buildup, everything.

And then it's time to go home.

It's, uh--

Yeah, it's really tough to take.

We just told him how proud we were

of how he handled the whole situation.

So much pressure is on him to do everything.

Just telling him, just you keep your head up.

Because you did everything you could do.

You played your heart out

and gave everything.

And on to the next.

It felt like a 90-minute period

of soccer life lessons,

something that they can use, Clint,

four years down the road,

Look back to 2018, where we were.

Where we didn't qualify for the World Cup.

I was excited about the way that these kids played.

They showed a lot of heart.

They got this country believing again.

We need to inspire these kids that are coming up,

that are gonna break into this team

and make it better for 2026.

- They were watching this game. - They were watching.

That's who it was. They're watching that game at home.

We spent a few weeks together as a team,

we had, you know, in between games,

all our families visiting us,

and it just felt really special.

So I think it's just kind of knowing that that was over

and that it was just time to go home.

How do you feel right now?

You know, I still feel very proud of our team.

We weren't supposed to make it to this round.

You know, they played their hearts out.

They never gave up.

They fought the whole match.

I think they did very well for being a young team,

for just getting back into the World Cup.

Actually, the U.S. team played very well,

I have to say.

The USA played really well.

I feel sorry for them, but I'm glad Netherlands won.

Being a part of the World Cup, for sure,

that's where we want to be every single time around.

- USA, baby! - 2026.

At the same time, I set even bigger goals

for myself and for the team.

You know, in these major tournaments,

we haven't had that really, really big win

and that big finish.

And that's, for me,

that's-- that's the next step for us, so--

I'm always looking forward

and-- and want to continue to kind of,

yeah, up our game

and, you know, really

take this team to another level.

♪ Mm-hmm ♪

♪ Hold the light ♪

♪ Make it bright ♪

♪ Keep it right on ♪

♪ On the floor ♪

♪ Through the fight ♪

♪ Be the fighter ♪

♪ The igniter ♪

♪ Till it's done ♪

♪ Oh-oh-oh ♪

♪ Hey, hey ♪

♪ Ooh, ooh ♪

♪ Hey, hey ♪

♪ Hold the light ♪

♪ Hold the light on ♪

♪ Make it bright ♪

♪ Make it brighter ♪

♪ Keep it right on ♪

♪ Keep it right on ♪

♪ On the floor ♪

♪ On the floor ♪

♪ Through the fight ♪

♪ Through the fight ♪

♪ Be the fighter ♪

♪ Be the fighter ♪

♪ The igniter ♪

♪ The igniter ♪

♪ Till it's done ♪

♪ Till it's done ♪

♪ Whoa-oh ♪

♪ Mm-hmm ♪

♪ Mm-hmm ♪

♪ Mm-hmm ♪