Latest news with #AlexFreeman
USA Today
27-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Freeman reportedly eyed by Premier League, Serie A clubs
Freeman reportedly eyed by Premier League, Serie A clubs Show Caption Hide Caption 'Heartbeat' and 'Brilliant' kits unveiled for USWNT, USMNT U.S. Soccer on May 13 unveiled the 2025 Nike U.S. National Team Kit Collection, introducing new kits for the men's and women's teams . U.S. Soccer Alex Freeman only just began his Orlando City career, but he may not be staying for long. According to The Telegraph, Serie A side Parma has made an opening offer of €2 million for the right back, who is also subject to interest from clubs in the Championship and newly promoted Premier League sides. Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland will all move up from the second tier to the Premier League for the 2025-26 season. Freeman — the son of ex-NFL star Antonio Freeman — mostly played for Orlando's reserve side before this season, which has been a breakout campaign for the 20-year-old. The 6-foot-2 defender has started 14 of Orlando's 15 games so far this season, tallying three goals and one assist while impressing with his speed and attacking ability on the right flank. Freeman's rapid rise saw him earn his first U.S. men's national team call-up last week, as Mauricio Pochettino named him to a 27-man squad for friendlies against Turkey and Switzerland. The majority of the players are also expected to make up the USMNT's Gold Cup roster. The defender signed a Homegrown contract with Orlando in 2022, taking him through 2025 with a club option for 2026.
Fox Sports
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Pulisic, Musah, Robinson and Sargent to skip CONCACAF Gold Cup, leaving US with depleted roster
Associated Press FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Antonee Robinson and Joe Scally will miss the CONCACAF Gold Cup, leaving the United States with a depleted roster for its last competitive soccer matches before the 2026 World Cup. Weston McKennie, Tim Weah and Gio Reyna already were expected to miss the regional championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean because FIFA ruled the expanded Club World Cup has priority on players over national teams. U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino announced his 27-man squad Thursday for friendlies ahead of the tournament, and missing players also included defender Cameron Carter-Vickers and midfielder Tanner Tessmann. Outside back Sergino Dest returns to the national team for the first time since March 2024 after recovering from a torn ACL. Forward Folarin Balogun is with the team for the first time since last September following his recuperation from shoulder surgery. After this summer, Pochettino will have just four brief training windows before players report ahead of the World Cup. The U.S. program was shaken in March by losses to Panama and Canada in the CONCACAF Nations League. Robinson also missed the March matches with what the U.S. Soccer Federation said was an injury it didn't specify but has started 34 of 37 Premier League games for Fulham this season. Pochettino's roster included Alex Freeman, a son of former NFL All-Pro receiver Antonio Freeman. The 20-year-old right back made his Major League Soccer debut for Orlando in April 2023 — his only league match that season. He had two MLS appearances last year and has become a regular this season. Midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, a 24-year-old son of former U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter, also was picked for the first time along with 20-year-old forward Damion Downs and 21-year-old defender Quinn Sullivan. Downs has played on youth teams of Germany and the U.S., and helped Cologne gain promotion to the Bundesliga for 2025-26 after a one-season absence. Goalkeeper Matt Freese, who has attended national team camp previously but not played in a game, also was selected. Players will start reporting June 1 for training in Chicago. The U.S. plays Turkey on June 7 at East Hartford, Connecticut, and Switzerland three days later at Nashville, Tennessee, then meets Trinidad and Tobago, Saudi Arabia and Haiti in the first round of the Gold Cup. Twenty-six players can be on the Gold Cup roster, of which 23 can dress for a match. Sixteen of the players picked are from Major League Soccer. The roster: Goalkeepers: Matt Freese (New York City), Patrick Schulte (Columbus), Zack Steffen (Colorado), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace) Defenders: Max Arfsten (Columbus), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven), Alex Freeman (Orlando), DeJuan Jones (San Jose), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Miles Robinson (Cincinnati) Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds), Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis), Luca de la Torre (San Diego), Diego Luna (Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Houston), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven), Sean Zawadzki (Columbus) Forwards: Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte), Folarin Balogun (Monaco). Damion Downs (Cologne), Brian White (Vancouver), Haji Wright (Coventry) ___ AP soccer: recommended
New York Times
19-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Alex Freeman runs his own route, right onto the USMNT's radar
It would have been easy for Orlando City right back Alex Freeman to feel pressure to follow in his father's footsteps. Former Green Bay Packers All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Freeman certainly had dreams of teaching his son the art of route-running in the backyard. 'Of course, every dad's dream as a former athlete is that I'm going to have my hands on him, I'm going to teach him, I'm going to show him the nuances and the tricks of the trade,' Antonio Freeman recalled in a phone interview with The Athletic. Advertisement But Alex Freeman wanted to kick every ball around him. And his mother, Rochelle Hinkle, threw him into every sport. In fact, tennis looked like a potential path for him at one point. In the end, however, the tendency to put the ball at his feet prevailed. Soccer was the right path. Freeman is in the midst of a breakout season with Orlando City. Another strong outing in a 3-0 win over Inter Miami on Sunday night — he created four chances, including two big chances, had 0.8 expected goals and 0.34 expected assists — reinforced his impact this year. The 20-year-old right back has won the starting job under Óscar Pareja, and his effectiveness on the ball in possession and getting forward and contributing in the attacking end has put him on the radar of the U.S. men's national team. Freeman, who has three goals and one assist this season, was a surprise name on Mauricio Pochettino's 60-man preliminary roster for next month's Concacaf Gold Cup. He's an intriguing prospect at a position of need for the U.S., and his inclusion on the list is confirmation of his progress. For Freeman, it's all validation for the path that he is forging on his own. 'It's kind of good to create my own story,' Freeman said last week. 'To be able to maybe step away from the fact that my dad was a professional football player and just try to create my own narrative.' The Freemans always wanted to make sure the son never felt any paternal pressure. They thought about naming him Antonio Freeman Jr., but they opted against that to avoid those sorts of comparisons to the Super Bowl XXXI champion and Packers Hall of Famer. Alex picked up nearly every sport he tried. Rochelle said she thought basketball would be the path, and that tennis coaches told her Alex could pursue a pro career in that sport, too. In the end, he started to lean toward soccer, the sport in which his stepfather, Jake Hinkle, was his first coach. Advertisement The whole family started to get baptized into soccer life at the youth fields, where they became fixtures. Rochelle is now a Liverpool fan and jokingly called Alex, 'my little Trent Alexander-Arnold.' Antonio Freeman recalled his own exposure to soccer growing up in Maryland at a camp run by John Murdock, a well-known coach and mentor in East Baltimore. He laughed that his career ended at age 12, when he stopped going to Murdock's camps, and said he felt like he had picked things up when he finally understood the offside rule while watching his son at a tournament in Dallas. 'The more they watch it, the more they're trying to tell me stuff,' Alex Freeman said, laughing. 'And I'm like, come on.' The all-in moment came during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alex tried out for Inter Miami's academy but didn't make the team. His former coach at Weston FC, Javier Carrillo, convinced him to come play in Orlando City's academy. Rochelle hesitated at the idea of sending her 15-year-old son three hours away in the midst of the pandemic, but ultimately allowed him to go live with the family of another player on the team in 2020. In Orlando, Alex, who had largely played as a winger and forward, started his transition to right back. He won an MLS Next Cup U-17 championship in 2021, then signed a homegrown deal in 2022. After spending three seasons with the club's reserve side, Orlando City B, with three MLS regular-season first-team appearances in 2023 and 2024 combined, Freeman won a starting job with the first team this season. 'I feel like everyone has a different journey,' he said. 'I wanted to be a professional soccer player, and at a very young age I was offered the opportunity to be one. I knew maybe I wouldn't play right away, but that I could be able to play for the first team eventually. 'Playing with OCB for about three years improved me a lot. … And now that I finally got to the point where I want to be at, it's about not taking anything for granted and just keep giving 100 percent.' Advertisement There have been moments this season with Orlando that keep drawing your eye to the young right back. In the 75th minute of a draw against the Philadelphia Union in April, Freeman held the ball away from Philly defender Nathan Harriel with his right foot. Then, as midfielder Jovan Lukić approached from the other side, Freeman calmly pulled a Cruyff turn between the two of them to break free, then ran at the Union back line and set up a shot by forward Luis Muriel. Against the Galaxy a few weeks earlier, Freeman recognized how he could create space by carrying the ball inside and then playing it wide. He kept his run inside in the channel and accelerated past a defender to get into space for a dangerous cross. Against NYCFC, he stayed alert and in position and was able to clear the ball off the goal line on an overhead kick after a Pedro Gallese save. Then, of course, there are his goals, including his first career goal in his first career start. Freeman waited until gameday to tell his parents that he was starting. Rochelle said she's perpetually late and that Alex told her to try to be on time for this one. Antonio missed the first two minutes because he accidentally parked near the Citrus Bowl for a car show instead of near Orlando City Stadium. He sprinted through the neighborhood to get to the stadium, but missed the walk-out, which was the big moment in his mind. Then, Alex scored, in a moment Antonio captured jubilantly on social media. A post shared by End Zone with Antonio Freeman (@endzonewithfree) For his parents, it was a payoff for the work they saw him putting in to try to get to that first-team level. 'He is very passionate, he's always worked so hard off the field, even when he's not practicing he would be in the gym or working out or watching other games,' Rochelle Hinkle said. 'He's just so focused. It's amazing. It took him a minute to get to this level, but it looks like he's ready. Watching him play these last few games, I am not surprised, but he has risen to the occasion.' Advertisement Freeman still has plenty of work to do, especially on the defensive side. But his confidence and ability going forward are on display in nearly every game for Orlando City. Pareja, who consistently produced young homegrown talent at FC Dallas, said he wouldn't have put Freeman into the lineup if he didn't think he was ready to take this next step. 'Alex is putting all the pieces together,' Pareja said. 'Defensively, he is working much better understanding the function and the responsibility that he has as a fullback. Offensively, I think he's understanding much better, as well, his connections with his midfielders and also his winger on his side. All those parts are growing. 'He has the intuition, the intelligence to (come inside to play). I like it because he's not forcing it. It's natural. He comes especially as a false winger with a very natural way. He allows us to make some movements that convert Alex into a very functional player. That ability that he has to combine with his teammates around him just caught my eye.' If Freeman can continue to progress as a defender, his profile will certainly be attractive at higher levels. And while he's forging his own path, he made sure to say he takes enormous pride in adding to his father, and his family's, legacy. 'To have someone that's always there for me, he has impacted my life a lot,' he said. 'It just shows how he came from so little, and he was able to do so much for his family and give back to them. And not only that, but he was able to succeed. He beat the odds. 'I feel like in life, you're gonna have odds against you. You're gonna have to work and try to beat them. You're gonna have stuff that you're gonna have to overcome. As a person, not even just as a parent, but as a person, he's done that a lot. So he's definitely someone that I look up to every day.
New York Times
08-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Americans Burst With Pride, and Surprise, at the First Pope From the U.S.
The election of a Chicago-born cardinal as the first American pope on Thursday astonished Catholics and non-Catholics alike across the United States. Some felt a burst of patriotic pride that a 2,000-year-old institution had chosen its new leader, Leo XIV, from a country that is about to celebrate its 250th birthday. Others hoped that an American pope might help smooth the rifts between the United States and its allies that have widened under President Trump. 'To have the first American pope is something new and something fresh,' said Alex Freeman, a 33-year-old event planner from Atlanta. Ms. Freeman was raised Baptist but attends Catholic services occasionally at a historically Black Catholic church. 'It's part of a new American narrative.' Chicagoans, in particular, rejoiced at the news that the first American pope was a native of their city. The Rev. William Lego, the pastor of St. Turibius Parish in Chicago, knew the new pope when they were young seminarians in Michigan. 'I think my classmate just got it,' he said, sounding stunned, from his office. 'They picked a good man.' The Democratic political strategist David Axelrod, who once helped get another long-shot Chicago candidate elected to high office, sounded equally shocked. 'Holy smokes!!' he wrote on social media. 'An American pope! From Chicago!!' But outside the pope's hometown, other Americans said they had never heard of the pope until his name was announced in Latin from the St. Peter's balcony. 'I didn't even know there was a cardinal from the U.S. in the running,' said Danielle Charles, a 33-year-old insurance professional in San Antonio. In Queens, Rosario Gonzales, a 72-year-old retired accountant and Filipino immigrant, she said she did not have a preference for an American pope, adding that his selection was 'who the Lord preferred.' 'It doesn't matter what nationality the pope is,' she said. 'He's still my pope.' Despite closely watching the news, she said she didn't know much about the new pope and had only heard his name for the first time today. Still, her first impression was positive. 'He looks the part,' she said with a laugh. 'He's pope-ish.' Ms. Gonzales said she hoped the new pope will continue Pope Francis' outreach to non-Catholics and his compassion for children and migrants.
