"Soccer was the clear choice by far." That's Alex Freeman — 21 years old, son of a Super Bowl-winning NFL receiver — after setting up Gio Reyna's goal in a 4-1 US demolition of Paraguay in their World Cup opener. Not a bad way to make a point.
Growing up as the son of Antonio Freeman, a Green Bay Packers wide receiver who won a Super Bowl ring, the expectation to follow the family trade was obvious and unspoken at the same time. Alex kept his love for soccer quiet. His stepfather Jake Hinkle introduced him to the game. His mother Rochelle pushed him forward. His biological father eventually came around — and after watching his son play in a World Cup, Antonio Freeman told Alex that playing on this stage beats winning a Super Bowl.
Hard to argue with that right now.
From MLS reserves to World Cup starter in 13 months
A year ago, Freeman was turning out for Orlando City's reserve team in MLS Next Pro. He'd played only 32 senior MLS games. He wasn't in anyone's World Cup conversation. Then Mauricio Pochettino called him in for a look — Freeman described it as "a big surprise" — and within three weeks he had his first international start. He went on to play all but three minutes of the US run through the Gold Cup.
He's now appeared in 17 consecutive US matches and became the ninth-youngest American to start a World Cup game. At Villarreal, where he moved in January, he's played less this year than he has for the national team. Pochettino didn't care. He said he was picking the "right 26" for this tournament, not the best 26 — and Freeman's ability to slot into both a back three and a back four without losing a step is exactly the tactical flexibility that makes Pochettino's system work.
Hugo Lloris, who played under Pochettino at Tottenham, framed it well: "I can see a lot of coaches protecting themselves and try to not take that risk with the young players. But he's not this kind of coach. If the young player deserve, he will be on the field."
A roster that's winning now, not just building
Freeman is the youngest player on a US squad that is already producing. Folarin Balogun, 24, scored twice against Paraguay — the first American to net multiple World Cup goals in 96 years. Chris Richards, 26, completed all 83 of his passes, the most without a miss by any World Cup player since 1966. Gio Reyna is on his second World Cup team at 23.
The US roster averages 26.8 years of age, fifth-youngest in the tournament. Remove 38-year-old captain Tim Ream and only Ivory Coast and Ecuador are younger. That kind of depth across age groups makes the Americans genuinely interesting at short odds to advance from a group where Friday's match against Australia in Seattle is essentially a winner-takes-pole-position contest.
Freeman isn't thinking about Super Bowls anymore. Neither, apparently, is his father.
