After spending over a week with the U.S. national team, I returned to Munich on Thursday and am still a little tired and „jet-lagged. I went directly to practice at the Säbener Straße after arriving back in Germany.
Five takeaways from USA’s loss to Costa Rica
I scored two goals back in October against Cuba and New Zealand and was hoping to be called up for the World Cup qualifying games against Mexico and Costa Rica. The national team is always something special for me. It’s a big honor to play for the country and I have a very good relationship with the guys from the team. We spent a lot of time together during the World Cup in Brazil and friendships have been created, so I was very happy to be called up again by Jürgen Klinsmann.
Each day with the national team is always very similar. We eat breakfast from 7 to 9 a.m., then I get my ankles taped for preventive measures. I have some problems with my foot but I get along with it, and it should stay like that.
After breakfast we practice for around an hour and a half. The time to shake down is very short, so we use it to get prepared tactically for the next opponent.
After training we go back to the hotel, take a shower and eat lunch. The rest of the day is free. In the evening we often go to dinner in small groups. I’m always with John Brooks and DeAndre Yedlin. John plays for Hertha and I mostly speak German with him. I speak English with DeAndre, but he is able to say some words in German.
The U.S. presidential election took place a few days before our first game. It was of course a major topic discussed by everyone on the team. While we were in Columbus we realized there were protests against Trump on the streets, so it was certainly a big focus on our game against Mexico. In the first half Mexico was the better team, in the second half we were stronger. A draw would have been fair, but the goal against us in the 89th minute was very unfortunate.
The atmosphere in Costa Rica was very good and the game was very tough for us. We did not perform at our best and deserved to lose.
We wanted to make the most of these two WCQ games and left very disappointed after the two defeats. I’m in good shape and would have liked to play. I wanted to show the same performance as back in October. Now we must not look back and focus on the future. We still have eight games left in qualifying and we still have a chance to qualify for the World Cup. And I’m sure we will succeed.
The guys who play in the U.S. flew back to their clubs directly from San Jose. I had a stop in Miami with the other “Europeans” where we parted ways.
I have overcome the jet lag now and I am ready for the next challenges in the Bundesliga.
Sincerely yours,
Julian
