Jozy Altidore Speaks on Evolving Dynamics of the USMNT

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00:00What's the difference between the squads when you were there, the 2010-2014 World Cup with you,

00:06Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, the old guard, we'll say, versus sort of this new era of the men's national team.

00:12What sort of difference do you see?

00:14I mean, there's a ton of differences.

00:16You know, it's hard to compare eras.

00:18You know, I think there's a lot of things that we went through that they won't go through.

00:21There's a lot of things they're going through that we didn't go through.

00:23So I don't think there's much sense to do that.

00:25I think the biggest thing to look at is, you know, in any project like this is the growth.

00:31And when you look at where this team started, how they performed the last World Cup and now this World Cup, they're on track.

00:37And I know sometimes the results in between, they make you feel a type of way.

00:40But we're in another World Cup.

00:42It's here on home soil.

00:43So I think the important thing is old guard, new guard get together and really use this as an opportunity to showcase, you know,

00:50what the game has become in our country and what it could be, right, looking at the future.

00:54So that's how I try to look at it.

00:55That's how I'm approaching it.

00:57And again, man, for a soccer player, this is like creme de la creme, right?

01:01To have this come home, like, I'm just so, so excited for everybody involved in our game.

01:06Yeah, and I love that Christian Pulisic's come out and said there's no drama, there's no beef.

01:10We've been hearing a lot of talk from the team themselves saying just trust the process essentially.

01:14We're going to be fine, healthy, and ready to go come the World Cup.

01:17But as a player, whether it's the U.S. men's national team or any team competing in the World Cup, it's in North America.

01:22You're changing time zones, you're changing borders, and there's so many different logistics that go into that.

01:27You've been a part of that in your previous experience.

01:29What is that like in preparation and how difficult it is to just go into a whole different country

01:35and outside the soccer competition do with the other adversity off the field as well?

01:39Yeah, that's always a challenge in a World Cup.

01:41You know, you have the travel that goes into it, you know, the discipline that you need to have

01:46because you're basically on the road, you know, two and a half months if you get to the final,

01:49which is where you want to get to.

01:50So it's definitely a unique challenge.

01:53And then, you know, now for us, we have the opportunity to host it, so it's a bit different.

01:57But everything's elevated.

01:59I mean, I can't say it enough.

02:01When you play for your club teams, it's one way.

02:03But when you have your country and these are the set of players that you have

02:06and you have to make the best of it, it just presents a different challenge.

02:10And so I think the players recognize that.

02:12I think this one will be even more exciting, selfishly, I believe, because in the United States,

02:17and I think, you know, a lot of the players from around the world have fan bases here.

02:21A lot of these countries have fan bases here.

02:22So I think on the flip side, a lot of these nations will feel at home here, right?

02:27There's a lot of different pockets in the United States where diversity is recognized.

02:30So I think it'll be a World Cup I'm hopeful of, everybody kind of feeling the support,

02:35you know, stadiums being full throughout.

02:37And I think, you know, if the club World Cup taught us anything last summer,

02:40there'll be some great shows of emotion, right?

02:43Some great camaraderie and a lot of good things that we're going to see on the streets.

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