Clint Dempsey On How American Soccer Players Can Reach The Level Of International Competition

Forbes

09-05-2025

Team USA soccer legend Clint Dempsey details his adjustment going from MLS to the Premier League and ... More how American players can start playing to the level of international competition. (Photo by)
Clint Dempsey knows better than anyone what it's like to be an American soccer player excelling overseas.
The 42-year-old — arguably the greatest American soccer player ever — was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame played six years in the English Premier League, scoring 57 goals for Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur. Dempsey is tied with Landon Donovan for the most international goals by an American player.
"For me, it was the pace of play and the depth each squad had in terms of the roster and the competition for spots," says Dempsey in a one-on-one interview. It was difficult to get in that first 11 and if you got in there, you wanted to make sure you stayed in there. If you ever missed the game and the team did well without you, it was hard to get back in there. Those are some challenges that I learned."
Dempsey obviously carved out a great deal of his legacy in England and says the challenge of playing in the top soccer league in the world made him a much better player.
"Those are some challenges that I learned — and I learned to think quicker and play faster," says Dempsey. "But also how to read the game better and put myself in better spots. That's what I wanted. I wanted that challenge, I wanted to play at the highest level against the best players in the world. I got that going to the Premier League and it was a great experience. That let me sleep at night, knowing that I tried my best to take the game as far as I could."
The best moment in Dempsey's international career was when he scored his first goal against Liverpool in 2007 — which kept Fulham from relegation.
"Going from an MLS All-Star player and then going to the Premier League and thinking I'm just going to go right into being a starter, that wasn't the case for me," says Dempsey. "Having to come off the bench and then getting the first goal for my career in Fulham and was the one that kept them from relegation, which is a huge deal over there. A club loses a lot of money or pays a lot of money in terms of being able stay in that Premier League."
The Texas native says the key for American players to start playing at the level of international players is by gaining experience through playing in the best leagues. That means going overseas as Dempsey did in order to improve your skills.
"We need more players that are playing week in and week out in the biggest leagues in the world and on the biggest teams in the world," says Dempsey. "You have a few players for the U.S. that are doing that. You look at players like Christian Pulisic and what he's doing at AC Milan and being one of their main players on one of the biggest clubs in the world. The more players you have doing that, the better off that we're going to be."
Dempsey also mentions that America is missing a dominant goalkeeper in one of the premier soccer league and that big goal scorer playing week in and week out.
"Things that we're missing at the moment is a keeper that's playing week in and week out at a big club in a big league," says Dempsey. "And in that No. 9 position, having that goal scorer playing week in and week out as well. Those are a few things that would obviously help the team do better and to be more successful. Right now, they're going in a little bit of a tough moment, but they have the Gold Cup to try to get back on track this summer."
The former soccer star is looking to do just that through his partnership with Abbott x Real Madrid. That's because they will host tryouts for 18-to-19 year olds this summer in five major American cities — Dallas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, DC and Chicago — looking to form the "Abbott Dream Team." The team will field 11 dream team members — there will be an expected pool of at least 1000 participants — and they'll travel on a paid trip to tour Ciudad Real Madrid's state-of-the-art facilities.
Dempsey is serving as the official program mentor for participants looking to make the Abbott Dream Team.
"What they're doing in terms of giving young kids in five different cities the chance to make the Abbott Dream Team, I think it's cool for the kids to get that experience," says Dempsey. "To go with Real Madrid, to train with some of the best coaches, but also learn about nutrition and how to be better at the thing you love the most."
Dempsey details why it's so important for American teenagers to gain this experience from getting the opportunity to travel to Real Madrid's training facilities and get instruction from some of the top soccer coaches in the world.
'The more that you can be in different situations and adapt and to test yourself, you have to be put in uncomfortable situations,' Dempsey says. 'And play with players that might be quicker, players that are more skillful, it's the only way you're going to get better and to play in different environments.'
'The more opportunities you get to do things like this, it just kind of gives you more confidence and allows you to take that step to get to the next level, and hopefully give some of these kids that opportunity to chase their dream,' Dempsey continues to say. 'At the same time, you're learning about nutrition because if you want to have a long career, you're going to have to look after your body and do what it takes to stay on the field.'