The U.S. men’s national team won’t face anyone at this World Cup that they’re as connected to as England, their opponent in Friday’s much-anticipated Group B meeting.
There are the basic connections that most fans can rattle off: eight USMNT players ply their trade with English clubs, and several of them will be standing across from club teammates. Christian Pulisic will see three familiar faces from Chelsea, while Arsenal’s Matt Turner will see the same number of club colleagues suiting up for the Three Lions. At Borussia Dortmund, Gio Reyna often lines up right next to England playmaker Jude Bellingham.
The intertwined nature of these teams goes deeper on the USMNT side, though, as three players (Cameron Carter-Vickers, Yunus Musah, and Antonee Robinson) were raised in the UK, and speak with English accents.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Carter-Vickers — born in England but eligible for the USMNT through his father, who hails from Baton Rouge, Louisiana — laughed as he noted that in his family, “half of them want us to win, and half want England to win.”
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Sitting alongside the Celtic center back, Turner acknowledged another important factor: most USMNT fans are regularly watching the Premier League, boosting the desire to measure up to England on the field.
“There’s definitely a tremendous respect from the people of America of English soccer,” said Turner. “It’s the [league] that I grew up watching when I got a little bit older.”
Still, despite having so many links to England, professionalism is the watchword for the USMNT. Anything less and they risk the fate of Iran, who fell to the Three Lions by a 6-1 scoreline.
“I think for me, it’s a game that I really want to win, just like any other game in the World Cup,” said Carter-Vickers. “To be honest, I’m not too sure how I’m gonna feel when when the game comes around, but you know, I do know that I’ll be doing everything I can to try and help the team win.”
Musah, who played for English youth national teams, shared a similar thought. “I don’t know how I’m gonna feel that day. But yeah, it’s a special game for sure, because I played on both sides, and to be able to be on the pitch with the same national team I used to play with is just special.”
Musah came up in Gareth Southgate’s pre-match remarks as well, as the England manager mischievously credited Gregg Berhalter for his “talent identification,” noting that the USMNT had successfully lobbied the Valencia midfielder to play for the United States despite his youth national team history with the Three Lions. “He obviously took [Musah], which we weren’t very happy about. Fair play.”
Musah called that choice “difficult,” adding that “it was a really nice time with [England]. I have a lot of respect for them for everything they’ve done for me.”
USMNT respects Saka, Kane, Bellingham
Turner, like Musah, is very familiar with England’s Bukayo Saka. Turner sees him with Arsenal on a regular basis, while Musah trained with him for years in the Gunners’ academy system. Both underlined the threat they know is coming from the 21-year-old, who had a brace against Iran.
“He’s one of the young stars of world football,” explained Turner. “He’s a top, top player, and I think you don’t need me to tell anybody on our team how much of a threat that he poses in the game. He’s scoring goals in a variety of ways.”
Musah agreed, and added that Bellingham — his teammate at the youth national team level — is in the same category. “You can see what they’re doing week-in, week-out, and they’re producing at the World Cup as well,” said Musah. “We’re gonna have to be on our game on Friday.”
Carter-Vickers doesn’t play alongside any member of the Three Lions these days, but as a young player at Tottenham, he regularly went up against none other than Harry Kane, who will likely captain England if he overcomes an ankle knock suffered on Monday.
“I think it’ll be difficult,” Carter-Vickers said of a reunion with the Spurs forward. “He’s a top player, you know, they’ve got a squad full of top players. So, I think we all know that we have to put in one of our best performances to beat them.”
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