THE AMERICAN DREAM:

LAKE PLACID TO L.A.

Jun 13, 2026

I truly didn’t know what to expect from the U.S. heading into our first game. We’re a team that seems to have it all to lose and a lot of people hoping we do just that. Americans aren’t going anywhere this summer, though. We’re home. Home-field advantage in its truest form. The longing here has never really been about geography. It’s been about trying to catch up. Catch up to the nations that are leagues ahead of us when it comes to footballing prowess. Our population and general athleticism as a country has never quite matched up on the soccer pitch.

That is, until last night. The United States put together, probably, the best performance I’ve ever seen from them in my life. Even with 1 lapse in defensive positioning, it was pretty much flawless. 4 goals for the first time in our World Cup history and 3 points on the board to start off our campaign.

Yes, people will say it was only Paraguay, but they were no pushovers during qualifying. That’s how you have to open up a tournament like this. Dominant.

The whole team played with freedom and flair. It highlighted our skill on the ball and organization under Pochettino, but that still doesn’t come without its criticisms.

“All your good players aren’t from the U.S.”

That sentiment has followed the USMNT pretty much as long as I can remember, and it’s not really true. It may be exaggerated however by the fact that this is mostly a generation of U.S. soccer players who have had to leave home to flourish as footballers, but so what?

Christian Pulisic grew up and went to Dortmund as a teenager because that was where the ‘better’ football was. The backbone of this team learned its trade in Germany, England, and the Netherlands, places where the game was already well established. It is what it is, and we’re taking full advantage of our melting-pot of a culture. This feeling of coming back, to find that the home they left has been waiting for a version of them that’s only now arriving.

The star players from the States are emerging from their hibernation at just the right time. I don’t think advancing out of the group is really the question. Instead, it’s how far the home-field advantage and pressure of the moment can carry them once they do.

Mauricio Pochettino watched Miracle, and has this team believing like it’s 1980. Is it only 1 game? Yes, but when the USMNT wins at the World Cup, it unites a nation like nothing else.

As hosts with everything to prove, I hope to see this American dream realized.

🇺🇸 ⚔️

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