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The National Male Soccer team of the United States will be the local team in the World Cup next year, and could give a great splash.
Eleven of the 16 host stadiums in the tournament next year, which begins exactly one year from Wednesday, they are in the United States, with the New Jersey Metlife stadium that welcomes the final.
After 1994, Major League Soccer was born, and it is not necessary to say that the immediate increase in the popularity of football in the country was exponential.
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Landon Donovan and Alexi Lalas (Imagn; Getty Images)
But apparently he has reached a wall in recent years, since the USMNT has not given exactly Americans the opportunity to take advantage.
The squad entered the round of 16 in 2010 and 2014, but could not qualify for the tournament in 2018. The USMNT returned to the 16 -year round, but could not leave the group stage of the Copa América in its own homeland last year.
However, the Legend of the US team. Landon Donovan, feels that football is “safe” in the country, even if the US team. UU. Disappoints, and its popularity can only rise from here.
“Surely there will be a lot of pressure on this team. You play a World Cup in front of your local crowd, there will certainly be pressure. Is the state of football in trouble if they do not do it well? No,” Donovan said at a telephone conference with journalists this week.
“There is a massive and massive opportunity [for this team]. In my experiences of the World Cup ’02, when we did really well, my life changed and the US football trajectory. Uu. Changed a little. “
But, again, Donovan scored one of the most famous objectives in the history of the soccer of the United States: his goal in detention time against Algeria put the United States in the group stage for the first time since 2002.
“In 2010, it was that in steroids when we had an iconic moment. So, if this team can do one of the two things, whether to go far and/or have an iconic or two moment, it will catapult football for the roof in this country.”
The United States player Landon Donovan (10) celebrates after scoring the winning goal in the 91st minute when the United States defeated Algeria, 1-0, in a 2010 World Cup match in TSHWANE/Pretoria, South Africa. (Adam Jacobs/ICON SMI/ICON SPORT MEDIA through Getty Images)
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Alex Lasry, the CEO of the Nynj host committee, offered similar feelings, saying that the global stars that arrive in the United States will be enough to grow the sport itself.
“If it ends it is not what we expect, I do not think that will cushion what the World Cup means to the United States,” the Pak Gazette Digital told Fox in the Liberty State Park of Jersey City, which is home to the Official 2026 World Cup Fan Festival and organized a one -year -old accounting party on Wednesday.
“I don’t think it’s going to cushion how 6, 7 and 8 years old look at it. Have it. [Lionel] Messi, [Kylian] MBAPPE, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Christian] Pulisic, the sport stars here, is what will lead to the next generation of athletes to say: ‘I want to be part of that’ “.
The Usmnt student, Alexi Lalas, took the other side of the currency. While he agrees with Donovan that everything that is needed is a special moment for the country to get hooked, he said he is not letting this team “out of the hook.”
“This is a generation that, in the last 30 years, everyone has worked to make sure they have everything they may need in terms of the opportunities and resources they have; and with that there are greater expectations and fair expectations,” Lalas said. “Whoever is in that field next summer, I hope they recognize the opportunity and responsibility of promoting the game. [does that look] as? It can come in many different ways. But when that final whistle blows for the United States team, you want to go to think: ‘That was something I will remember. That was proud not only to be a football fan in the United States, but to be American. “
Alexi Lalas (Katelyn Mulcahy – FIFA/FIFA through Getty Images)
“You have to be ready for that and take that opportunity with both hands and make the most of it,” he said. “I don’t want to let them out of the hook, because I think they can do things that we have not seen before. They need football gods to smile, but each world cup team needs a little luck in the future. And during the next year, they will have to work on what is happening, and I think the attitude outside the field, to make sure to maximize next summer.”
The 2026 FIFA World Cup takes place in North America next year and will be presented at Fox Sports.
