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SEATTLE STADIUM — Mexico and Scotland have their ducks, but the United States has its chicken, thanks to Chris Richards.
Paxo, a rubber chicken, appeared at the World Cup on Friday in Seattle with Richards’ parents, Ken and Carrie. Paxo found its way to Richards after he picked up the chicken on the pitch after Crystal Palace won the UEFA Conference League last month in Leipzig, Germany.
Richards told me after the United States’ 2-0 win over Australia on Friday that Paxo is now joining the World Cup trip.
“I just ran with him and took some pictures with him at the Conference League trophy,” Richards said with a laugh. “And now we’re also doing the US tour, right?”
This is not the first time an animal has appeared as a team’s avian mascot at the World Cup, although the other two birds were real. Mexico has embraced Merlin, while Scotland fans also adopted their own duck (named Dawn) as they marched through Providence, Rhode Island.
Chris Richards found Paxo after the UEFA Conference League final in May. (Sebastián Frej/Getty Images)
Have Richards’ colleagues in the United States seen the chicken yet? When I asked defenseman Auston Trusty about this after one of the most famous victories in the US men’s team’s 113-year history, he seemed perplexed: “A chicken?” said. “That’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”
Richards laughed again when asked if he would make a presentation at some point. “Not yet,” he said. “We’ll see.”
Chris Richards posing with the UEFA Conference League Trophy, along with the Paxo chicken. (Photo by Boris Streubel – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
Richards did not play in that UEFA Conference League final as he recovered from the ankle injury he suffered on 17 May in a Premier League match against Brentford. He missed Palace’s final game of the season against Arsenal, as well as the United States’ two World Cup warm-ups against Senegal and Germany before returning to the lineup for the tournament’s opener against Paraguay.
“I was pretty devastated. I feared the worst,” Richards, who missed the 2022 World Cup due to injury, said when he arrived at the Stars and Stripes’ training base in Southern California a couple of weeks ago.
It’s now two wins in two World Cup matches for Richards with Paxo in the United States.
Richards is also thriving on the field, leading an American defense that snapped a streak of 10 consecutive clean sheets with a shutout against the Socceroos. After making history by completing all 83 of his passing attempts against Paraguay, he went 91 of 95 against Australia.
Chris Richards, along with reserve Alex Zendejas, after the United States’ victory over Australia. (Photo by Jane Gershovich/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
Richards has now completed 97.8% (175 of 179) of his passes in the World Cup. That’s the second-best accuracy for a player who has attempted at least 100 passes since 1966. The only player with a better percentage was Romania’s Gheorghe Popescu, who was 122 of 124 in two games in 1994, according to OPTA.
Richards and the rest of the US defense will be especially excited to finally have a clean sheet.
“A clean sheet sounds great,” goalkeeper Matt Freese said. “Two, three, four clean sheets sounds a lot better.”
Richards’ path to the World Cup has taken him from his native Birmingham, Alabama, to powerhouse Bayern Munich and Crystal Palace. He was originally rejected by FC Dallas of the MLS at the age of 16. He finally arrived at the FCD academy the following year. However, he was only there for one year before joining Bayern and making his professional debut there. He made his first appearance for the United States in November 2020 and has since made 38 international appearances for the team.
He is now the undisputed anchor of the United States defense, which is clearly at its best when he is in the lineup.
“He has presence on the field,” said American teammate and defender Mark McKenzie, while veteran winger Tim Weah called Richards “one of the most important players on the team.”
