When Freeman wasn\u2019t battling the Socceroos\u2019 explosive counterattacks, he was slashing their midfield lines and igniting the U.S.\u2019s attack. He made a Super Man-esque leap into the air, soaring above Australia\u2019s 6’3″ goalkeeper to header the U.S.\u2019s second goal in the 43rd minute, crushing Australia\u2019s spirits and hammering home the victory. <\/p>\n
The resulted, followed up by Paraguay\u2019s surprise defeat of T\u00fcrkiye, cemented the Stars and Stripes\u2019 place atop Group D and punched their ticket to the knockout stages<\/a> with a match to spare. Freeman left the pitch a hero<\/a> with his first-ever World Cup<\/a> goal.<\/p>\n Yet, before Friday, there was another \u201cFreeman\u201d whose name echoed throughout American households for nearly a decade: Antonio Freeman, Alex\u2019s father. The former NFL wide receiver, now 54, starred for the Green Bay Packers, playing eight of his nine total seasons in Wisconsin, including back-to-back Super Bowl appearances (1996, 1997) and winning Super Bowl XXXI (1996). In 1998, the elder Freeman took the league by storm with 1,424 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns on 84 receptions, earning a Pro Bowl selection and First-Time All-Pro honors. It ultimately landed him in the Packers\u2019 Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n Yet if Antonio dominated the game of \u201cfootball,\u201d why did Alex choose \u201cf\u00fatbol\u201d instead?<\/p>\n Compete against the world. | SPORTS ILLUSTRATED<\/p>\n <\/a>\u2018This Happiness on the Soccer Field\u2019 Alex Freeman powered the USMNT to victory on Friday. | John Todd\/ISI Photos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Alex, born in 2004 as the youngest<\/a> on the USMNT<\/a> roster, started out playing both American football, soccer and even a bit of basketball growing up; however, it quickly became evident that soccer was his primary love.<\/p>\n \u201cI had dreams of coaching him in football and basketball and showing him how to shoot a 3-pointer, make a pump fake and different things,\u201d Antonio told ESPN<\/a>. \u201cBut his joy was on that soccer field, and when he became a teenager, he just played more and more soccer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was soccer every day, all day. He was watching it on his iPad, he was kicking the balls around the house against the furniture, which you’re not supposed to do. He kicked everything. It didn’t matter what it looked like, he would just kick it. And he just grew into the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t hurt that Alex had quite a knack for soccer, too.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was almost mesmerizing going to his soccer games and just every other word from all of the kids, was \u2018Freeman, Freeman, Freeman, Freeman, Freeman,\u2019\u201d Antonio added. \u201cAnd he just had this smile and this happiness on the soccer field. Even though he was good at other sports, that one seemed to come the easiest.\u201d<\/p>\n Alex Freeman had a soaring header goal on Friday. | Sarah Stier\/FIFA\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Antonio knew Alex was always going to choose soccer, yet the decision didn\u2019t appear as crystal clear to his son.<\/p>\n \u201cI had my doubts when I first chose soccer,\u201d Alex told ESPN. \u201cIn my heart, I wanted to continue playing football, but I knew that if I wanted to be the best, I had to limit my area of concentration and I had to limit it all to soccer at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n Alex joined Orlando City\u2019s youth academy in 2020 as young teen, slowly working his way up the ranks of the MLS side before making his first team breakthrough in the 2025 season. His career skyrocketed from there, seeing him secure a spot in the 2025 MLS All-Star Game and debuting for the USMNT in June of that year. <\/p>\n He moved up to Spanish La Liga\u2019s Villarreal this January<\/a> for a transfer fee of $4 million with incentives up to nearly $7 million, becoming the third-biggest outgoing transfer in Orlando City\u2019s history and the most expensive academy product that the club had ever sold. <\/p>\n Antonio had a limited knowledge of soccer, yet as a highly successful athlete, he still ingrained values in Alex that the young star relies on today.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a football player, I think they have so much competitiveness, and it just kind of rubbed off on me a lot,\u201d Freeman told\u00a0CNN Sports<\/a>\u00a0before the World Cup. \u201cAnd for me, it was just to have that role model that I could always look up to for any questions, any motivation I needed and just to be able to have that guy to look up to. It meant so much.\u201d<\/p>\n Antonio was overjoyed when he discovered that Freeman had made Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s final World Cup roster<\/a>, as the youngster certainly wasn\u2019t a lock<\/a> for this summer. <\/p>\n \u201cYou always want to see your kids do better and to reach the heights…that I reached, which is pretty high,\u201d Antonio said. \u201cAnd then you have your kid come along and not even go from a national superstar but go to a global star, that’s next level. We see coach on the video congratulate him on making the team. And man, I just went ecstatic, man. I just lost it, ran around the room, kind of crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n Alex isn\u2019t the only USMNT player with a famous athlete for a parent. Winger Timothy Weah\u2019s father is soccer legend George Weah of Liberia, the only African to win the Ballon d\u2019Or and FIFA World Player of the Year, winning both awards in 1995. Midfielder Giovanni Reyna\u2019s parents<\/a> both played for U.S. Soccer. Claudio Reyna was the captain of the USMNT and played in three World Cups (1998, 2002, 2006), while Danielle Egan Reyna was a star at the University of North Carolina before featuring six times for the USWNT in 1993. Midfielder Sebastian Berhalter\u2019s father, Gregg Berhalter, is the former manager of the USMNT (2018\u201323, 2023\u201324) and played for the squad himself between 1994\u20132006. <\/p>\n![\"World](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/01kty4pdh22kmdyem560.jpg\" "\\"World")
<\/p>\n![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/01kvgx03cyx4y9hn7qz8.jpg\" "\\"Alex")
<\/p>\n![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/01kvkcwgnk0xn3fnhayy.jpg\" "\\"Alex")
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