{"id":754653,"date":"2026-06-22T23:55:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/754653\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T23:55:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:55:20","slug":"u-s-soccer-players-vibes-are-high-during-world-cup-workouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/754653\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. soccer players ‘vibes are high’ during World Cup workouts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two games, two wins and the U.S. is already through to the knockout stage<\/a> of a World Cup<\/a> it is hosting.<\/p>\n

For forward Folarin Balogun<\/a>, things couldn\u2019t be going any better.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, if someone said before the tournament, two games and you\u2019d be through to the knockouts, I think we all would have taken it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re delighted.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, the U.S. got more good news when Christian Pulisic<\/a>, its talisman, returned to training after missing 10 days because of a calf injury. So Balogun said the last thing the team wants to do is take its foot off the gas for Thursday\u2019s group-play finale with Turkey.<\/p>\n

\"U.S. <\/p>\n

U.S. forward Folarin Balogun celebrates after scoring against Paraguay during the teams\u2019 opening World Cup match at SoFi Stadium on June 12.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe object and the aim is to go out there and win,\u201d he said before Monday\u2019s practice at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine<\/a>. \u201cThree wins, three games. We can create history.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is unlikely to be part of that effort, however. Balogun, Tyler Adams, Chris Richards and Antonee Robinson all picked up yellow cards in the first two U.S. games, and a second booking against Turkey would leave them ineligible to play in the round of 32 match.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no need to risk that in a game that will change neither team\u2019s World Cup fate \u2014 the U.S. already won the group while Turkey has been eliminated and will fly home after the match. But protecting their momentum is important for the Americans, who last won their group in 1930 and have won a World Cup knockout-stage game just once.<\/p>\n

\u201cGame to game, even minute to minute, half to half, it ebbs and flows,\u201d captain Tim Ream<\/a> said of momentum. \u201cYou can wrestle momentum away from teams and create your own. Every goal, every block, every set play \u2014 everything that we\u2019re doing is together. That\u2019s how we create the momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"U.S. <\/p>\n

U.S. defender Chris Richards kicks the ball in front of Paraguay forward Julio Enciso while midfielder Tyler Adams looks on.<\/p>\n

(Kelvin Kuo\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cMomentum is everything,\u201d defender Richards added. \u201cGoing into the last game with the group stage with two wins, hopefully we can finish with the third.\u201d<\/p>\n

With decisive victories over Paraguay<\/a> and Australia, the U.S. has consecutive wins in a World Cup for the first time in 96 years. It has never won more than twice in a tournament, so beating Turkey would make history \u2014 and a bold statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe belief\u2019s always been there,\u201d forward Alejandro Zendejas said. \u201cNot just now, but in the past FIFA windows. We\u2019ve been playing against good national teams, respected national teams, and we\u2019ve been coming out with a positive result. So just keep on believing in this group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zendejas said one reason the team is playing so well is because the players genuinely like being around one another. And unlike other national team camps, which rarely last more than 10 days, these 26 players have been together nearly a month, which has helped bond a roster that was already tight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vibes are high, the team is having fun,\u201d he said. \u201cTraining is intense, but in a good way. That\u2019s since the beginning of this whole camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fun being around these guys. There\u2019s a bunch of jokes. But when it comes to work and training and games, we get serious. And we\u2019ve been showing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

With coach Mauricio Pochettino<\/a> likely to rotate his squad against Turkey to protect the players with yellow cards, Zendejas is among those who figure to see the field for the first time in the tournament. Midfielder Cristian Roldan<\/a>, who is in his second World Cup but has yet to play, was in line to get some minutes as well, but he was held out of training Monday with what was vaguely described as a muscle strain. His status is listed as day to day.<\/p>\n

Pulisic\u2019s role in Thursday\u2019s game could be Pochettino\u2019s toughest decision. The team\u2019s best player, Pulisic was electric in the first half of the opener with Paraguay, setting up two goals. But he hasn\u2019t played since, and his absence was noticeable against Australia.<\/p>\n

So while getting him back on the field would be a positive, an additional week\u2019s rest and recovery also would be valuable since there will be no room for error in the knockout stages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two games, two wins and the U.S. is already through to the knockout stage of a World Cup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":754654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,122351,12389,1111,1112,13157,76573,10492,561,82,2341,9500,9210,3848,178,180040,21683,13009],"class_list":["post-754653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-christian-pulisic","tag-day","tag-fun","tag-game","tag-group","tag-momentum","tag-player","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-team","tag-thursday","tag-training","tag-turkey","tag-u-s","tag-vibe","tag-win","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=754653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/754654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}