U.S. national team forward Jesús Ferreira has spoken out about his challenges with mental health on the field and how seeing a sports psychologist has helped him become a better player.
Ferreira is in the midst of a career year with FC Dallas, having scored 18 goals, and appears to be the frontrunner to start at striker for the USMNT when the World Cup kicks off in November.
Speaking to reporters from USMNT camp on Tuesday, Ferreira said that a goal-less stretch at the beginning of the season left him frustrated and led to several people in his support group rallying around him.
“At the beginning of this year was there were a good amount of games that I went in a row without scoring,” the 21-year-old said. “For me as a forward my goal is to score goals and so there’s a lot of pressure on myself and from myself, and I needed to focus on clearing that out of my mind and making sure that I knew that goals will come.
“I have a group of friends, group of coaches and group of teammates that came to me and made sure to let me know that I bring more to the team than just scoring, and that’s what led me to work on my mental health.”
Ferreira said that his agent suggested seeing a sports psychologist, whom the striker credits with helping him focus on the basics during games in which his end product is falling short.
“[I’ve been] working with a guy that has helped me understand that in games, I need to focus more on having a good touch, making sure that my press is good, making sure that my runs are good, making sure that I can come down and help [the team] on my first touch for the build-out. And so just making sure that I have a good game before I think about the final product.”
The striker is aware of what makes him tick on the field, admitting that at times he can get frustrated easily when he isn’t performing up to par.
“For me, I’ve always had a problem with my mood,” Ferreira said. “When things don’t go my way on the field or I mess up, I tend to shut down.”
Through his work with a sports psychologist Ferreira said he was now in a much better place, which could partially explain why 2022 has been the best year of his career thus far.
“Whenever I get frustrated, I can move on faster when things aren’t going my way,” Ferreira said. “Just think about positive things and making sure that I’m thinking about having a good game instead of my final product. Just little things like that have helped me stay focused on the game and stay present.”
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