EXCLUSIVE: Former USMNT Brad Friedel Hails Impact of Mauricio Pochettino and Culture Change
The World Cup is underway, and few people are better placed to assess the USA's chances than Brad Friedel. One of the most decorated American goalkeepers in history, Friedel earned 82 caps for the USMNT and was part of the squad that reached the quarterfinals in 2002, still the furthest the USA have progressed in the modern era.
Ahead of tomorrow's opener against Paraguay, the former Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers and Tottenham Hotspur shot-stopper joined the team at Free Bets for a wide-ranging World Cup special, covering Mauricio Pochettino's leadership, the danger of the group stage, Christian Pulisic's future, his iconic 2002 penalty save against South Korea, and what it would take for this generation to surpass the achievements of his own.
Here's what Brad had to say, and don't forget to check out the best World Cup Betting Sites.
BRAD FRIEDEL'S WORLD CUP SPECIAL
The Buzz is Building
There's an excitement building across the United States ahead of the tournament, but as Brad explains, New York is a city with its attention divided.
"You'll see it over the coming weeks. I would say about a month ago, you wouldn't really have known the World Cup was coming, but now you do. I'm in New York right now, and the New York Knicks are in the finals for the first time in a long, long time, so you can't really dictate who's watching the World Cup because the Knicks are overwhelmingly in the media right now. But on the streets and on the roads, the fans from around are starting to wear the shirts and they're getting there. All the other cities that I've been to, it's massive."
For Brad, the opening ceremony and tomorrow's USA vs Paraguay fixture mark the real turning point.
"With the kickoff being today and an opening ceremony in Mexico, the Mexican fans you'll see on the telly are going to be remarkable. It's an important day today for the start of this, and it's going to be a really important day for the US team specifically tomorrow."
The Group Stages: Who Does Brad Fear?
Brad is measured in his expectations for the group stage, and has one particular concern heading into the opening fixture.
"I'm absolutely most nervous about Paraguay for a whole host of reasons. One is it's the first game and you don't want to get off to a zero-point start. Second, everyone in America — especially new fans that maybe don't know as much about world football, think we should automatically beat Paraguay, and that's not a foregone conclusion. We have the ability to beat them 3-0, but we also have the ability to lose 1-0. It's a really strange game to predict."
The wider group picture gives him cause for further concern too.
"Turkey's a really good team, player for player they've got some outstanding players. And Australia is going to work really hard and make it difficult. To qualify out of South America is a battle, it's a war. So I think it's important to get off to a three-point start. If you get off to a loss, it's difficult to go through in a good position in the group."
Pochetino: The Culture Change That Could Make The Difference
Brad played under Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham and has watched the Argentine's impact on the national team with admiration, though he takes a realistic view on how far this squad can go.
"For me, yes, he's helped change a culture that was a little bit broken within the national team. A lot of players before he came in could dictate when they came in, what games they played, things like that. And he took that right out of the team, rightly so. One thing is for sure with Mauricio Pochettino teams — they're going to be competitive."
On the speculation surrounding Pochettino's future after the tournament, Brad is dismissive of the noise.
"It was funny — people were making such a big deal of it. These are people that don't know how Mauricio does his deals. Because Mauricio, at this stage, doesn't go to the meetings himself — he has a representative go. But every single coach in the entire world has their representatives going to meetings on potential jobs. In my mind, knowing how Mauricio works, he's completely focused on the World Cup. What he does after honestly doesn't concern me one little bit."
What Success Looks Like And The Pressure Of Being Hosts
For Brad, success starts with getting out of the group — and he's wary of the added weight of expectation that comes with playing on home soil.
"I think success is getting to the knockout rounds and then seeing who you're drawn against. You know, if you get drawn against a Spain or France or England or Germany or Belgium and you lose, that can happen. I just want to get through to the knockout rounds and then I can watch the games as a bit of fun."
Having been part of the 1994 squad on home turf, he has a unique perspective on what playing as a host nation really means.
"In '94 we didn't have any expectations put on us by the media or the fan base — they were just excited to watch us play. That was different. There's more expectation now, and that worries me a little bit. Pressure is an interesting thing in sport. I think you need to have pressure because it helps you compete — it's just if your pressure turns into anxiety, then that's not good. But I'm confident this group is going to do really well."
Matt Freese: The GK Brad Gave His First Start
One of the more personal storylines of this tournament for Brad is the emergence of Matt Freese — a goalkeeper he knows well from his time in US youth football.
"I gave Matt Freese his start with the US under-19 national team. Really good athlete, really good kid. Calm, poised. This is his first foray into a major tournament — he never went through any Under-20 World Cups or Under-17 World Cups or anything like that. As far as technically he'll be fine, he'll be very good."
On the milestone of all three US goalkeepers being MLS-based, Brad is philosophical.
"It does say a lot about MLS also — all three goalkeepers are MLS goalkeepers. Of all the positions, being a goalkeeper, a lot of times a shot is a shot and a cross is a cross when it comes down to it, so they can continuously get better playing in MLS. All of us — myself, Tony Meola, Kasey Keller, Tim Howard — we all started at a tournament, we all had our first one. Maybe this is the tournament that really makes Matt Freese a world star."
The 2002 Penalty Save: Taking You Inside The Moment
Ask any US soccer fan to name Brad Friedel's defining moment in a USMNT shirt, and the answer is almost always the same — his penalty save against South Korea at the 2002 World Cup. We asked him to take us back to that moment.
"I didn't have any data on which way he went — he was a player I had nothing on. The way that he lined up, I thought he was actually going to go to my left. And then he did something in his run-up where his body weight just shifted, and it was at that moment I knew I had him. The only way he was going to score was if he hit it into the upper bin, because once I detected which way he was going, I pushed off."
Even once he had made the save, Brad's mind was already on what came next.
"Right as the ball left his foot, I knew I had it. Then the worry was — because I knew I was at full stretch — I knew I wasn't going to be able to hold it or get a lot on it. It was just to make sure the rebound didn't go in. So that was more of the worry after the save."
On the psychology of saving penalties more broadly, Brad reveals what he was really looking for.
"The very first thing I would look at is whether I thought the player looked nervous or not, because generally if the player's nervous, they're going to go to the easy side. You never look at their eyes — you look at their shoulders, you look at the hips and the planting foot. The hardest ones were when you kind of knew where they were going to go, but they just didn't care. They put the ball down, stood back four or five yards at a 45-degree angle and you knew it was going to be placed well and hit hard, and there's nothing you can do at that point."
Breaking Records And Welcoming Someone Else To Do It
Brad still holds the Premier League records for an American in terms of appearances and clean sheets, and remains the only USMNT goalkeeper to have saved two penalties in group play at a World Cup. But rather than clinging to those records, he actively welcomes the day they are broken.
"The way I look at all that is — our sport is developing better players when those are broken, and that's what sport is all about. I firmly welcome someone breaking the records. Here I am at 55, and I hope an American player breaks them soon, because that means we're doing really well. That would make me happy."
Brad's World Cup Winner: England
When it comes to picking a winner, Brad is going against the grain in backing Thomas Tuchel and his team to end 60 years of hurt for the nation.
"I'm picking England to win. I think they have the best number nine, they have a goalkeeper in form, really good centre backs, a really good spine of the team — Rice, Anderson, etc. — and then they have a lot of dynamic players. I think the best two squads in the tournament are Spain and France, but I'm going to hang my hat on England."
His dark horse? A team being almost entirely overlooked in the American media.
"Norway. They're a good team and they can cause people some problems — they're not being spoken about at all over here. People speak about Norway like Erling Haaland is the only player, and that's far from the truth. They have another striker who's even taller than Haaland, Alexander Sørloth. They'll be dangerous on set pieces, very direct, they close people down, they're strong, they're good in the air. Very good team."
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