Pulisic: AS 'Tidak Meremehkan Siapa Pun' Setelah Mengetahui Lawan di Piala Dunia
The road to 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup glory has officially been set for the United States men’s national team, and Christian Pulisic and Tyler Adams already have strong thoughts on their chances.
The USMNT stars weighed in Friday following the team’s selection into a Group D that includes Australia and Paraguay, two countries the USA beat in friendlies in the past two months. The group will also include the winner of European Playoff C between Slovakia, Kosovo, Turkiye and Romania.
Given the familiarity, Pulisic admitted the USA will be better prepared and more confident heading into next summer, but won’t sleep on any opponent.
“I think we can go into it with a good feeling,” he said. “Obviously, we’ve played against these teams recently, which is not always the case. So, we know more or less, what they’re going to look like, and we know they’re tough opponents as well.
“We’re not taking anyone lightly. They’re all going to be tough games, but I think it’s great that we have that experience. … it’s cool that those friendlies and some of the other ones were able to prepare us for some of the teams we’re actually going to play.”
Of course, confidence will only be half the battle for a team looking to make up for its disappointing finish in Qatar in 2022. Pulisic and Adams were part of the squad that fell in the knockout stage, a result that came after the USMNT failed to qualify for Russia in 2018.
When asked if the USMNT’s measure of success is different this time around, Adams focused on the need to approach things with a “game-by-game” mentality. He also stressed that, while winning it all is the obvious goal, making a run and setting a new standard after maturing and learning from 2022 is just as important.
“I think it’s fair to say that the last World Cup, we couldn’t set a bar or standard for anything,” Adams said. “We didn’t know what to expect, we hadn’t been through the process, we didn’t know what it was going to be like. Now, looking back on it, I think we have more experience, and we’re a lot more mature.
“We’ve grown a lot as individuals, and as a team. Everyone’s going to want us to say ‘winning is, obviously, the goal.’ Our idea is to win. But I think setting the benchmark of the furthest a US team has gone is also realistic.”
Pulisic also echoed his teammate’s sentiments as he harped on not getting too far ahead of themselves in search of the men’s team’s first trip past the Round of 16 since 2002, and first-ever World Cup.
“We have to finish in the top half of that group and that’s our first goal,” he said. “And then, once we get there, it’s a knockout tournament, and from there, no matter what round we lose in, we won’t be happy. So, [we] ingin berusaha sekuat tenaga, dan kami akan berusaha tampil baik.”
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