The US men’s national team is set to take on England, Iran and either Wales, Scotland or Ukraine after drawing in Group B for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The stakes may be incredibly high, but Brenden Aaronson is not worried.
The newly-signed Leeds player is currently on duty with the USMNT, preparing for the international tournament with two upcoming friendlies and two Concacaf Nations League matches. He forms part of Gregg Berhalter’s 26-player roster, alongside Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie.
After coming together with his side, Aaronson expressed excitement for the World cup, admitting the American team fears no one, including rivals England.
“They’re a fantastic team,” Aaronson said of England in a Monday media roundtable ahead of the USMNT’s friendly vs. Morocco on Wednesday. “They have such a depth in the roster, and the kids that they have coming up, it’s a tremendous team.
“But for us, I feel like we don’t fear anybody. I mean, we’re young, but we have some older guys, but I think we’re perfect in that sense: We’re not afraid of anybody. We’re going to give it our all in this tournament. We’re not going to go to the World Cup to be a participant, we’re going there to win. England’s in our group, and we’re going to try to win this game. So I think that we have no fear and they should fear us.”
The two nations have faced each other twice before at the World Cup, in 1950 and 2010. The USMNT triumphed over England in the first encounter, before drawing the second 1-1.
But the American side has an uphill battle to face. Despite a strong attitude and high morale, Berhalter’s side is currently amid an injury crisis. The roster is currently without Miles Robinson, Sergino Dest, Gio Reyna, and most recently Djordje Mihailovic. Headliner Weston McKennie is back, however, the head coach admitted his fitness levels only allow him to be competitive on the pitch for about 20 minutes.
Zack Steffen and Ricardo Pepi are also notably missing from the June squad, after the goalkeeper dropped out due to personal reasons and Berhalter decided to rest the FC Augsburg player.
