SEATTLE STADIUM<\/strong> \u2014 What could it possibly feel like for a Super Bowl champion to watch his son score a goal in a World Cup?<\/p>\n “Oh, it was amazing,” Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame wide receiver Antonio Freeman proudly told me by phone on Father\u2019s Day. “I think the fact that he had a head-to-head [collision] three minutes prior and then had the audacity and the nerve to go back and hit it with his head, as a parent, I\u2019m concerned like, \u2018Didn\u2019t he just get hit in the head?\u2019 But I\u2019m just jumping around in excitement, and it was amazing.”<\/p>\n “I can see those box jumps that he was doing paid off because he jumped high in the air,” Antonio added, “let the ball go through, and then he had to circle around and find the ball like a punt returner would do. He found the football, he attacked it, and he hit it with his head. Man, just a phenomenal, phenomenal play.”\u00a0<\/p>\n In the 43rd minute of the U.S. men\u2019s national team\u2019s convincing 2-0 win over Australia on Friday in Seattle, Alex Freeman found space in the box and turned a deflected shot by Sergi\u00f1o Dest into the Americans’ second goal. It was initially ruled offside before VAR determined that it stood.\u00a0<\/p>\n “For me, it was like, \u2018Yes!\u2019” Antonio said, reenacting how he emphatically cheered for his son in the moment. “It was everything. It was just an emotional wave for the rest of the night.”<\/p>\n The entire U.S. team burst into celebration once the goal was confirmed and chased Alex to the opposite side of the field in pure jubilation.<\/p>\n “The VAR took a really long time, and I was anxious to see whether it was a goal or not,” Alex told reporters later. “And then when it was, I looked back and saw my teammates running at me and I was like, \u2018Oh lord, I have to run.\u2019”<\/p>\n Antonio loved witnessing everything unfold.<\/p>\n “Just the respect and appreciation from the older guys when he scored that goal, watching them all have a kids moment where you know your friends are gonna chase you, and you\u2019re like, no, I\u2019m going to run from them, but I\u2019m not going to try to outrun them,” Antonio said, his voice brimming with happiness.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It looked like they were all just running together on one accord. And I know how hard it is sometimes being the youngest guy on the team to kind of find your way and find your niche. But he\u2019s just Alex, and he\u2019s figured that out \u2013 and man, it was just amazing.”<\/p>\n (Photo by MB Media\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n At 21 years old, Alex is the youngest player on this World Cup roster. And his emergence has been meteoric over the last year and a half.\u00a0<\/p>\n He made his first professional start for MLS club Orlando City on March 1, 2025, and earned his senior national team debut just three months later, on June 7. He then started all six matches for the U.S. at the Gold Cup, becoming the youngest player in program history to make six consecutive starts in a single tournament.<\/p>\n His rapid ascent continued in October when he was named MLS Young Player of the Year. A month later, he scored twice in a friendly against Uruguay. In January, he transferred to Villarreal CF in La Liga, and in May, he earned a spot on his first World Cup roster.<\/p>\n The young defender has started both World Cup matches and his speed, versatility and composure on the ball have benefited the squad. He had an assist in the Americans\u2019 tournament opener against Paraguay and followed it up by scoring against Australia, making that three international goals on his glowing resume.\u00a0<\/p>\n Alex said celebrating with his team “made me very emotional.”<\/p>\n “It\u2019s hard for me to take it all in,” Alex told reporters after the game. “But it\u2019s good to go through these challenges at such a fast pace at a young age. And I feel like, for me, it\u2019s just going to make me an even better player to be able to kind of adjust to the different atmospheres and be able to kind of adjust to the different circumstances and now that I\u2019m here, how can I give 100% and do it for my country and how can I make everyone proud?”<\/p>\n (Photo by Jared C. Tilton – FIFA\/FIFA via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Alex chose soccer over football when he was little, and has always been “super competitive,” Antonio said.<\/p>\n “You could be going from the car to the front door and there\u2019s a race that you didn’t even know about and all you hear is Alex say, \u2018I won! I won!\u2019” Antonio said, laughing. “I knew whatever he would do, he\u2019d give it 100% and be great. But to be honest, all of this happened in a year and a half. I\u2019d be lying if I said I saw this coming all along.”<\/p>\n Alex\u2019s teammates are effusive when they speak about him. Christian Pulisic described him as “a beast” last week. After the Australia game, Folarin Balogun called him a “humble kid, very down-to-Earth, and I think as long as he continues to develop and he\u2019s able to show he\u2019s doing it on the biggest stage, I think he\u2019s gonna have a bright future.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Their manager wholeheartedly agrees, and took it a step further.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s difficult to explain the evolution of him,” Mauricio Pochettino said with a chuckle during his press conference after Friday\u2019s game. “He [is such a] humble guy, he has an amazing profile, he wants to learn, he always listens, he\u2019s a player that you really enjoy being with him. Not only coaching, but just being with him. He\u2019s a lovely guy and an amazing player. For me, he has the potential to be one of the best players in his position in the world.”<\/p>\n Comments like those make Antonio emotional.<\/p>\n “Cried my eyes out,” Antonio exclaimed. “In the world? Are you kidding me? I could have been the best receiver for Green Bay. I would never be considered one of the best in the world. I always had Jerry Rice and then came Randy Moss and a host of other guys. To come from a coach like that who is so accomplished and has seen so much soccer in his life to make such a statement, man, it just brought tears to my eyes. This kid is all in. He loves soccer, he loves his job, and man, that was just next level.”<\/p>\n Antonio paused before continuing, soaking it all in \u2013 in real time.<\/p>\n “When you say, \u2018He\u2019s a Pro Bowler,\u2019 OK, he\u2019s one of the best in the NFL,” Antonio said. “When you have somebody say one of the best in the world, like, we\u2019re not even talking about the U.S., we are talking about international soccer and [Pochettino has] seen a lot of soccer. For me, it\u2019s a huge statement.”<\/p>\n The Americans have Sunday off to take time for themselves, disconnect, and spend time with family before gearing up to face T\u00fcrkiye in their final group stage match on Thursday in Los Angeles. After consecutive wins, the squad has already won Group D and clinched a spot in the round of 32 in Santa Clara on July 1 against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.<\/p>\n Being that their rest day occurred on Father\u2019s Day, Antonio said the plan was to spend time with Alex. But he also knows what it\u2019s like to prepare for high-pressure games and doesn\u2019t want to take up all of his son\u2019s time.<\/p>\n “Listen, every day is Father\u2019s Day for me,” Antonio said. “Let me get this clear: I don\u2019t need one day. I get it every day.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY SEATTLE STADIUM \u2014 What could it possibly feel like for a Super Bowl champion to watch his son score a goal in a World Cup? “Oh, it was amazing,” Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame wide receiver Antonio Freeman proudly told me by phone on Father\u2019s Day. “I think the fact […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}