'They don't know how time flies!' - USMNT stars Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Sergino Dest named to 'old' team against youngsters in training
U.S. men's national team head coach Gregg Berhalter revealed several familiar faces were given a wake-up call during seven-a-side game this week.
WHAT HAPPENED? In the lead up to the USMNT's friendly against Uzbekistan, Berhalter divided up his 24-man squad for a series of seven-a-side games in training. To spread out players, three teams were made, based on the players' experience level, to add a bit of competition.
The likes of Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Antonee Robinson and Sergino Dest were stunned to be included in the «old» group, with Robinson the oldest among them at just 26. However, due to the USMNT's youth, that quartet found themselves alongside the likes of 35-year-old veteran Tim Ream.
WHAT THEY SAID: «It's a young group and we played we played seven-a-side today,» Behalter began. «we had old vs. medium vs. young and the old team had Christian, Weston, Antonee Robinson, Sergino. It's off the charts how young this group is and to have 18-19 year olds in camp is really fun, and they've been doing a good job.»
Berhalter went on to say that some of those young World Cup stars were stunned to be included in the «old» team.
«They were shocked,» he said with a laugh. «I think that's something that they were really surprised at. They don't know how time flies. They still think they're one of the younger guys in the team and they're not; they're senior players. They were really surprised and I think they they didn't take it too well, so I'll have to talk to them this afternoon and get them in better spirits!
THE BIGGER PICTURE: The groupings go to show how young the current USMNT pool is, with the average age of the squad just under 24 years old. Despite having 12 World Cup veterans in the team, 14 players in the
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