{"id":501871,"date":"2026-06-20T02:22:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T02:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/501871\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T02:22:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T02:22:50","slug":"us-players-agree-with-zlatan-ibrahimovic-that-world-cup-title-is-possible-thats-our-mindset-usa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/501871\/","title":{"rendered":"US players agree with Zlatan Ibrahimovic that World Cup title is possible: \u2018That\u2019s our mindset\u2019 | USA"},"content":{"rendered":"

After two wins in two<\/a> to start the World Cup, the US have gained a high-profile supporter: Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Asked on Fox\u2019s postgame broadcast whether he thinks the co-hosts can win the World Cup, the Swede offered a simple answer<\/a>: \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about Ibrahimovic\u2019s comments after Friday\u2019s 2-0 win over Australia<\/a>, US players were uniform in their response: Sure, why not?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d Chris Richards said. \u201cWe want to lift a trophy by the end of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

His fellow defender, Auston Trusty, had similar feelings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s our mindset,\u201d Trusty said. \u201cI don\u2019t think you enter this tournament not to have that mindset. To have [Ibrahimovic] say that about us, that\u2019s amazing. But I\u2019m sure he knows as well, it\u2019s game-by-game.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the US do make it deep into the tournament \u2013 Friday\u2019s win guaranteed their spot in the knockout stage \u2013 it will likely be due in no small part to the emergence of Alex Freeman. The 21-year-old defender, now at Villarreal after becoming one of the best young players in MLS with Orlando City, has been a revelation at this World Cup<\/a>. Playing on the right side of a three-man backline, Freeman scored the second goal to seal Friday\u2019s win \u2013 a goal that was initially ruled out for offside but was later given after a lengthy VAR review.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you dream of this moment,\u201d said Freeman, the son of Super Bowl champion Antonio Freeman. \u201cAnd for it to finally happen with such a support system to help you celebrate it makes is so much more special. When it was confirmed, I saw all my teammates running and I thought: \u2018I\u2019ve got to run away, they\u2019re going to tackle me!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Mauricio Pochettino said at his introductory press conference as US head coach that his goal is to win the World Cup with the US. He too had praise not just for Freeman, but the system that developed him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe evolution is massive,\u201d Pochettino said after Friday\u2019s game. \u201cHe has potential to be one of the best players in his position in the world. He\u2019s [a] humble guy, he has an amazing profile. He wants to learn. He always listens \u2026 you really enjoy being with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The best US finish at a men\u2019s World Cup was third-place in the tournament\u2019s first edition in 1930. Their best result in the modern era was a run to the quarter-finals in 2002.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After two wins in two to start the World Cup, the US have gained a high-profile supporter: Zlatan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-501871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}