USMNT's Alex Freeman scores vs. Australia, one year
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- Alex Freeman headed home a deflected Sergiño Dest shot against Australia in Friday's World Cup group-stage match, with the goal initially ruled out for offside before a lengthy VAR review confirmed the strike stood.
- Antonio Freeman, a former All-Pro wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers, scored two touchdowns against the Seattle Seahawks in a 31-10 Packers win nearly 30 years before his son's World Cup moment.
- Freeman went from his first year as an Orlando City SC starter — and first USMNT call-up — just a year ago to joining LaLiga side Villarreal and locking down the USMNT right back spot under Mauricio Pochettino.
- Pochettino said Freeman has 'potential to be one of the best players in his position on the world' and has shifted Sergiño Dest into a more attacking winger role to accommodate him in a hybrid three/four-back system.
- Freeman's parents split shortly after his birth; stepfather Jake Hinkle, a Manchester United fan, introduced him to soccer at age 4 alongside his mother Rochelle, while Antonio focused on off-field discipline advice rather than the sport itself.
- Freeman was cut from Inter Miami CF's academy in 2019 after reaching the final session of a 400-to-500-kid tryout, with teammates Benjamin Cremaschi and Noah Allen among those who made it through instead.
- Antonio Freeman said he didn't see a clear pathway for Black men in soccer and chose not to push his son into the sport, telling him simply to 'keep grinding' and 'cut a tree' after the Inter Miami rejection.
Why it matters: A year ago Freeman was starting his first MLS season; now he's a locked-in USMNT starter at a home World Cup, with Pochettino reshuffling the formation to build around him. The Inter Miami academy rejection in 2019 is a reminder of how narrow the pipeline remains for non-traditional soccer backgrounds — and how easily the USMNT's best right back could have been filtered out before he ever turned pro.
