"I just went ecstatic, man. I just lost it, ran around the room, kind of crazy." That's Antonio Freeman — Super Bowl winner, Green Bay Packers legend, four-time team receiving leader — describing the moment Mauricio Pochettino told his son he'd made the USMNT squad. The man who caught passes from Brett Favre in front of 70,000 screaming fans said it hit harder than getting drafted in 1995.
That tells you everything about what Alex Freeman's rise actually means.
Ten minutes to La Liga to the World Cup in 18 months
Rewind to early 2024. Alex Freeman had logged exactly 10 minutes of MLS action across two seasons with Orlando City. Not 10 games. Ten minutes. He was a fringe player in a developmental setup, the kind of prospect clubs keep around more out of hope than expectation.
Then came the 2025 season opener against Philadelphia Union. He came off the bench, changed the game, and by matchday two he was in the starting XI. He scored his first MLS goal and didn't look back. Thirty appearances, six goals, nine goal contributions by the end of the year — enough to earn MLS Best XI and All-Star honours. Christian Pulisic, not a man who throws compliments around lightly, called him "an absolute beast."
Pochettino handed him his first senior cap against Türkiye at 20, making him the youngest player to debut under the Argentine manager. Freeman then started every match in the US run to the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final. In January 2026, Villarreal came in with a reported $4 million — potentially rising to $6.5 million — and Orlando City had their first-ever academy-to-World Cup story.
The football dad who wanted an NFL son
Antonio Freeman had different plans. He pictured coaching his son through football drills, teaching him to shoot a three-pointer, handing down the athleticism and field vision that made him one of the better wide receivers of his era. "But his joy was on that soccer field," Antonio told ESPN. "He was watching it on his iPad, kicking balls around the house against the furniture — which you're not supposed to do. It didn't matter what it looked like, he would just kick it."
You can see the DNA in the player Alex has become. At 6-foot-2, he's an imposing right-back with the athleticism and spatial awareness of someone who grew up in a sporting household. Those traits don't come from nowhere.
Now Antonio is back to pregame nerves he thought he'd retired from. "Days of being nervous during game days were over," he said. "But here we are, back to being nervous with the jitters right before the game, throughout the game." He watched his son debut at a home World Cup against Paraguay, surrounded by thousands of American fans, and called it something beyond even his own playing career — "not a national superstar but a global star. That's like next level."
For a 21-year-old with 10 career MLS minutes 18 months ago, Alex Freeman is already operating at next level. That's not hype — that's the scoreboard.
