MARIETTA, Ga. — Alex Freeman and Patrick Agyemang were among the two dozen or so U.S. players on the team bus rumbling into this Atlanta suburb Tuesday morning for the second day of the final training camp before Mauricio Pochettino selects his World Cup roster in two months.
Distance from the team hotel: 12 miles.
Lengths swiftly traversed in their career arc: incalculable.
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A year ago, Freeman was in his first full Major League Soccer season with Orlando City, best known to some as the son of a Super Bowl-winning wide receiver, Antonio Freeman. Alex had played for youth national teams but never for the senior squad.
A year ago, Agyemang was still harnessing his 6-foot-4 frame after a breakout season with Charlotte FC in 2024. He had auditioned for Pochettino early in 2025, but, as with Freeman, the World Cup seemed a million miles away.
A year later, both have matriculated overseas, with Freeman at Villarreal in Spain and Agyemang at Derby County in England. Both have received regular U.S. call-ups. And with the sport’s quadrennial carnival kicking off across North America in less than three months, both are in serious contention for Pochettino’s 26-man squad.
“It’s been very quick,” said Freeman, who had started just 16 MLS matches before making his U.S. debut last summer. “It's been just a moment for me to realize how serious things are but to adjust. I feel like it's been a blessing. [I’ve] been grateful to be able to have eight or 10 months [that] kind of changed my life.”
Freeman and Agyemang are among six regulars who have taken full advantage of opportunities since last summer when Pochettino broadened and accelerated the roster-building process. The others are goalkeeper Matt Freese, wing back Max Arfsten, and midfielders Sebastian Berhalter and Diego Luna – players who, for the most part, were not seriously in the mix as of early 2025.
Except for Luna, who recently recovered from a knee injury, all are in the nine-day U.S. camp, which will feature heavyweight friendlies at Mercedes-Benz Stadium against Belgium on Saturday and Portugal next Tuesday. Pochettino is scheduled to announce his World Cup squad on May 26.
While those four have expanded their MLS profiles, Freeman and Agyemang parlayed performance for club and country into missions abroad.
Alex Freeman’s Villarreal challenge
Freeman, a 21-year-old right back and wing, joined Villarreal in La Liga in late January, though an initial dearth of playing time could cloud his World Cup outlook.
“Obviously, I haven't gotten the minutes I've wanted,” said the South Floridian, who has logged 42 minutes in four Villarreal appearances. “But I feel like I also got the experience at a high level in Spain to be able to stay sharp against [some] of the best players on the team and maybe even the league.”
Joining a prominent club was challenging enough, but he was joining one in the middle of the season and now sitting third behind superpowers Barcelona and Real Madrid while pursuing a 2026-27 Champions League berth. As Freeman has learned, the lineup does not typically change much when things are going well.
Because of his MLS offseason and Villarreal bench time, Freeman has not started for any team since a two-goal performance in the 5-1 U.S. romp over Uruguay more than four months ago.
U.S. teammate Cristian Roldan cautioned that “it's going to take a whole lot for him to see the field [in Spain]. The level of competition is very high over there, but I fully expect him to tap into even more of his potential, grow as a player, be uncomfortable in certain situations, so that he continues to grow.”
Before joining Villarreal, Freeman consulted with Pochettino and U.S. star Weston McKennie, a Juventus star. Freeman said they told him the move was “high risk, high reward.”
Roldan, a 30-year-old midfielder in his 12th season with Seattle, praised Freeman’s ball skills and his ability to “wiggle out of pressure.”
With Sergiño Dest, Pochettino’s first-choice right back, sidelined with a hamstring injury, Freeman should get the chance to continue proving his value – even if he’s not in prime form.
He said he wants to show he is “the same Freeman you guys all see on the field.”
Agyemang thriving in the Championship
Agyemang, a 25-year-old striker, has been a hit at Derby County in the second-flight English Championship, recording 10 goals and three assists while starting 29 consecutive league matches for an East Midlands club locked in a heated race for a promotion playoff berth.
Since arriving in England, Agyemang said, “I've grown into the person and player I am now. It's been amazing. I feel myself building in all types of areas, on and off the field, and I think it could obviously translate here as well and help the [U.S.] team.”
This camp is critical for Agyemang, who appears to be No. 4 on the depth chart behind Monaco’s Folarin Balogun, Coventry City’s Haji Wright and PSV Eindhoven’s Ricardo Pepi. Wright, however, is sidelined with a groin injury. For the World Cup, Pochettino is expected to select three or four from the pool, which also includes Toronto FC’s Josh Sargent and Vancouver’s Brian White. (Neither was invited to this camp.)
Agyemang acknowledged having to adapt to the unmerciful rigors of the English Championship.
“At times you think you get a foul or something, and it's just not a call,” the Connecticut native said. “It's play on and play on. So obviously it's very aggressive in that nature. But I'm always a guy that always likes to go [to] new places and just work hard and put my head down and keep focused on that. It's been a great experience for me, but [there] definitely have been differences [with MLS], for sure.”
Tim Ream, a veteran center back who played in the English Championship for part of his Fulham career, was Agyemang’s Charlotte teammate last year until Derby County came calling.
“You just never know with the Championship, what kind of reaction you're going to get from guys,” Ream said. “I don't think he could last 90 minutes when we were in Charlotte and now I'm seeing he's playing full 90-minute matches. That tells me he’s in a place mentally and physically that he feels good. And when you feel good, you just feel like you can do anything.”
With Agyemang in U.S. camp, Ream joked, “I'm going to have to knock him down a peg or two just to make sure that he doesn't get too far ahead of himself just because that's the way I am with him.”
Sitting next to Ream, Agyemang smiled.
“It's impressive to see what he's done in a short amount of time,” Ream added. “Hopefully, that continues. But he's got a good head on his shoulders and he knows that if he continues to do the small things and focus on himself within the group, he's going to be playing a long time.”
Like all players, Agyemang is trying to balance the demands of club and country and maintain focus on whichever crest he is wearing at that moment.
He said he is “taking care of the business here and then when I go back [to England], it's the same thing. … I just want to continue doing that until the end of the season and potentially the World Cup, so just trying to not stress too much about anything and just enjoy as much as possible.”
