SEATTLE — United States men’s national team defender Tim Ream said that the diverse background of the players on the USMNT is “a true representation of what America is.”
The U.S. captain spoke to reporters prior to the team’s World Cup training session on the campus of the University of Washington, with the USMNT set to celebrate the July 4 holiday later in the day at a rooftop bar where they will watch celebratory fireworks.
The U.S. side is a mix of players born both at home and abroad, with some like Weston McKennie and Sergiño Dest the children of U.S. servicemen.
Ream said these backgrounds make for a unique blend of personalities and helped form a tight-knit group.
“First and foremost, it is special,” Ream said about celebrating July 4 with the team,” he said.
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“Obviously it’s doubly special because it’s during the World Cup and triple special because it’s here in the U.S. But yeah, we’ve said this as a group with all our different backgrounds, where we all have grown up, it’s a true representation of what America is.
“It’s a melting pot of people, of personalities, of characters and like I said, it’s a perfect representation of what the U.S. is and what it’s about.”
Even Argentine manager Mauricio Pochettino has been immersing himself in American culture.
On Friday night he threw out the first pitch at a Seattle Mariners game.
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“I think he’s obviously taken to the culture, and at the same time has added his bit of culture to us as well,” Ream said about Pochettino.
“So I think as he said after the first time here in Seattle, he felt something with the ‘Country Roads’ being played and blasted through the stadium. So it’s just incredible.”
Ream spent the bulk of his professional career in England with Bolton Wanderers and Fulham FC before returning stateside with Charlotte FC.
He said he’s appreciative of the opportunity to celebrate the holiday in his home country.
“It’s a little bit different celebrating here than over there because obviously in a lot of ways, a lot of the people [in the U.K.] don’t actually know why we celebrate the fourth, which is crazy to me because they were a big part of why we celebrated,” he said.
“So listen, the memories for me are just the typical standard, barbecue, enjoy time with family, all day, fireworks in the evening and just celebrating obviously what it means to have freedom to have independence.
“And it doesn’t have to be this big extravagant thing, but just acknowledging why we are a country and how we became a country and how we became independent is enough for any of us.”
