\n
Many of MLS\u2019 rising talents were able to earn valuable experience with the U.S. men\u2019s national team in Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s first year as head coach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From Max Arfsten to Matt Freese to Diego Luna, the list was longer than most would\u2019ve expected at the start of the year. Alex Freeman may have taken the biggest jump in 2025 and his abilities were certainly on display Tuesday night in Tampa.<\/p>\n
Freeman scored his first two international goals in a 5-1 romp over CONMEBOL opponents Uruguay. The Orlando City right back, who saw his contract option exercised earlier this week, delivered a stellar 90-minute performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Freeman, the son of longtime NFL standout Antonio, rose high to double the USMNT\u2019s lead after 20 minutes. He extended the USMNT\u2019s lead to 3-0 later in the half, showing off his speed, awareness, and finishing ability to deliver a sublime shot from point-blank range.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The youngest player in Pochettino\u2019s starting lineup on Tuesday walked away with Man of the Match honors, capping off what has been a memorable year for club and country.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Freeman has put his name in the mix to be among the defenders chosen for next summer\u2019s FIFA World Cup. The 21-year-old\u2019s impactful two-way abilities led to him totaling 51 appearances this year in all competitions between the USMNT and Orlando City.<\/p>\n
Pochettino praised Freeman\u2019s impact in the starting lineup on Tuesday, but also admitted that his growth is also credit to the coaching staff\u2019s willingness to allow young players an early opportunity to grow.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is our job, it\u2019s our duty, to see the projection of the player. For that, we need to give the chance and see how they perform, how they act, the character, the mentality,\u201d Pochettino said about Freeman\u2019s growth in 2025 with the USMNT.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo happy, so happy, because today he scored twice,\u201d Pochettino added. \u201cI think you need to analyze the way that he plays. He can play like a third center back, he can go forward, on the side, going inside. When he has the ball, the team is like relief.\u201d<\/p>\n
Freeman certainly went down as a major winner from the November window and now enters his MLS offseason following the Lions playoff exit earlier this fall. He will aim to part of the USMNT mix once again when Pochettino\u2019s squad reconvenes next March.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Many of MLS\u2019 rising talents were able to earn valuable experience with the U.S. men\u2019s national team in Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s first year as head coach.\u00a0 From Max Arfsten to Matt Freese to Diego Luna, the list was longer than most would\u2019ve expected at the start of the year. Alex Freeman may have taken the biggest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":305134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136202,2,104519],"tags":[5721,24577,14141,5851,6851,102739],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-305133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alex-freeman","category-featured","category-usmnt","tag-alex","tag-brought","tag-freeman","tag-memorable","tag-relief","tag-usmnt"],"yoast_head":"\n
Alex Freeman brought \u201crelief\u201d to USMNT in memorable 2025 - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alex Freeman brought \u201crelief\u201d to USMNT in memorable 2025 - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many of MLS\u2019 rising talents were able to earn valuable experience with the U.S. men\u2019s national team in Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s first year as head coach.\u00a0 From Max Arfsten to Matt Freese to Diego Luna, the list was longer than most would\u2019ve expected at the start of the year. Alex Freeman may have taken the biggest […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-20T02:35:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Freeman-2-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Alex Freeman brought \u201crelief\u201d to USMNT in memorable 2025\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-20T02:35:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133\"},\"wordCount\":408,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Freeman-2-1.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Alex\",\"brought\",\"Freeman\",\"Memorable\",\"Relief\",\"usmnt\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alex Freeman\",\"Featured\",\"USMNT\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133\",\"name\":\"Alex Freeman brought \u201crelief\u201d to USMNT in memorable 2025 - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Freeman-2-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-20T02:35:28+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Freeman-2-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Freeman-2-1.png\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Alex Freeman brought \u201crelief\u201d to USMNT in memorable 2025\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Alex Freeman brought \u201crelief\u201d to USMNT in memorable 2025 - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Alex Freeman brought \u201crelief\u201d to USMNT in memorable 2025 - Som2ny Network","og_description":"Many of MLS\u2019 rising talents were able to earn valuable experience with the U.S. men\u2019s national team in Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s first year as head coach.\u00a0 From Max Arfsten to Matt Freese to Diego Luna, the list was longer than most would\u2019ve expected at the start of the year. Alex Freeman may have taken the biggest […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-11-20T02:35:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Freeman-2-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Alex Freeman brought \u201crelief\u201d to USMNT in memorable 2025","datePublished":"2025-11-20T02:35:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133"},"wordCount":408,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Freeman-2-1.png","keywords":["Alex","brought","Freeman","Memorable","Relief","usmnt"],"articleSection":["Alex Freeman","Featured","USMNT"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133","name":"Alex Freeman brought \u201crelief\u201d to USMNT in memorable 2025 - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Freeman-2-1.png","datePublished":"2025-11-20T02:35:28+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Freeman-2-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Freeman-2-1.png","width":1280,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=305133#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Alex Freeman brought \u201crelief\u201d to USMNT in memorable 2025"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=305133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/305134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=305133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=305133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=305133"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=305133"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=305133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}