Ream 'anxious' about World Cup announcement

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On the cusp of what would be a second World Cup for the U.S. Men’s National team, this time in his home country, Charlotte FC center back Tim Ream has had a lot going on.

He has given at least two interviews or commercial spots per day for the past three weeks, he said, with the likes of FOX and CBS. On Saturday night, Charlotte FC is giving away Tim Ream Bobblehead dolls to early-arriving fans before the New England game at Bank of America Stadium. Even his son brought home a Scholastic News magazine from school recently, with his father and his man bun featured prominently.

“He said, ‘Did you know about this?’” said Ream, who went on to explain that his son doesn’t enjoy the assignments that accompany the kids’ magazine reading. “I said ‘I did, but I didn’t want to tell you.’”

The hype machine is in full effect. It’s been a far cry from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when Ream was playing for Fulham in England.

“The last one, they called me four days before and said, ‘Hey, surprise,’ so I didn't have any of the buildup,” Ream said. “I had none of the nerves, none of the expectations, none of the anxiety, and it was just, ‘Hey, we need you to be there.’”

Nerves? Yes, he says.

Ream played all 90 minutes of four games in Qatar, against Wales, England, Iran and culminating in the 3-1 Round of 16 loss to the Netherlands. He has 80 “caps” (or appearances) with the U.S. Men’s National team in all, often wearing the captain’s armband. But ever since he arrived in Charlotte in 2024, Ream has said he does not take for granted that he will be named to the U.S. roster.

The U.S. Men’s National team is hosting its World Cup roster announcement Tuesday in New York City at Pier 17 in Manhattan, starting at 3 p.m. on FOX. Ream said players who are chosen will be notified ahead of time, adding that if it’s like 2022, he would get a phone call several days before.

Five days ahead of Tuesday’s announcement, when asked how he was feeling, Ream said: “I'm anxious. I'm usually the one saying, ‘Yeah, I'm great, it's all good,’ but this one's a little bit different. Excited, but I never assume and think that I'm a lock or guarantee. I'm not quite biting my fingernails, but I'm anxiously waiting.”

Ream is 38 now. He suffered a hamstring injury during preseason after admittedly overworking during the offseason. He injured an adductor muscle last month while delivering a diagonal pass against New York City FC. He missed Charlotte’s next three MLS games before returning for two. Then he sat out last Saturday’s game vs. Toronto for “load management,” which he explained Thursday was trying to avoid playing three games in a week. He said the US Men’s national team medical staff has been keeping close tabs with him and Charlotte’s medical staff.

As of Thursday, Ream said, “I feel 100 percent. I have nothing bothering me now and physically, mentally, emotionally feel in a really good place, which is exactly where I wanted to feel coming into the season, and then obviously going into the World Cup.”

The latest injury came after a round of criticism he received after his handball led to a penalty and goal in Belgium’s 5-2 win over the U.S. in a World Cup warmup exhibition March 28 in Atlanta. Ream said he quit worrying about what anyone other than his coaches and family thinks. He said he’s been taking criticism since the time he turned 30.

“People have said I shouldn't be here before I even made it out of high school,” Ream said. “People have opinions, and there's a lot of them, and there's a lot of loud opinions. At the end of the day, it's not down to them. It's down to the work that I put in and what you do in the moments that people aren't watching. It's down to what you do in front of the people that do matter, the people that do make the decisions. … I know [the work] is what gets me to where I want to be and to the goals I want to reach.”

When Adilson Malanda left for the English Championship last winter, the expectation was that Charlotte FC would sign somebody proven and polished to fill the “boots,” as they say, of the most talented defender Charlotte has produced so far. But after veteran Henry Kessler arrived and got injured, the club has been busy ushering in its next young and raw talent: center back Morrison Agyemang.

Morrison, who prefers going by his first name, has been a highlight of the pre-World Cup portion of Charlotte’s schedule. He has played every MLS minute since entering at halftime at L.A. Galaxy on Feb. 28, after a costly mistake by Andrew Privett. Morrison was named to the MLS Team of the Matchday after last Saturday’s 3-1 win over Toronto, in which he drew the penalty Pep Biel converted for Charlotte’s final goal.

Morrison has undeniable physical gifts. He’s a beast at 6-foot-4, and, well, soccer rosters don’t list weights. But when Morrison wears a ‘70s-style mesh American football jersey in street clothes, it looks about right. Then he speaks in his Ghanaian-plus-British accent, and you remember.

The 21-year-old defender has taken some lumps — a handball leading to a New England penalty in a 1-0 loss being the prime example — though Coach Dean Smith still questions the call. But he’s also shown no fear, whether it comes to challenging Cincinnati midfielder Evander to save a goal or addressing the media after a tough loss. He reached new heights with Charlotte fans after saying this following the 2-2 tie against Cincinnati: “On any day, if we need to shed blood on the field for the fans, then we would.”

He’s probably more likely to cause bloodshed than to suffer it. Morrison has also added an undeniable new dimension to Charlotte’s set pieces. He has scored two goals on corner kick headers and could easily have a handful more.

“He does bring a lot of physical gifts,” said fellow center back Ream. “We’re trying to work with him really hard on not relying on those physical gifts. It happened with Adi as well. Mo gets himself into and out of trouble because of those physical gifts. … I can help him learn the other side of the game_, between the ears, understanding where to be, when to be, how to be.”

Ream said Smith preaches that if defenders close gaps on offensive players by five yards, it might save them 50 yards of chasing.

“It's reading and understanding ‘When can I step, when can I not, when can I jump that pass, when is it too far, when do I need to drop, when do I need to go forward,’” Ream said.

You can take Dean Smith out of Birmingham, England, but you can’t take the Birmingham out of him. The former manager of the Premier League club Aston Villa, the team he grew up rooting for in Birmingham, went to a local Aston Villa bar to cheer the Lions on in their Europa League final Wednesday, a 3-0 win over Freiburg of Germany’s Bundesliga.

Smith said his wife, daughter and brother attended the game in Istanbul as guests of the club.

“They had a wonderful time and sent me some great pictures, but me and my son had a chat, and we wanted to be with Villa fans watching the game rather than just on our own,” said Smith, whose son Jamie plays for Charlotte’s MLS Next Pro team, Crown Legacy.

Smith had been invited to attend a gathering of the North American Aston Villa Supporters Club at Middle James Brewing Co. in Pineville last summer and decided to go back Wednesday.

“It was great to be amongst a load of Aston Villa shirts,” he said.

Danny Bramlette, of the Soccer City podcast, just happened to be at Middle James, too, and said Smith kept a low profile for much of the game. But he jumped right in for high fives, hugs, photos and songs by the time Aston Villa’s first European title since 1982 was secure.

Right back Nathan Byrne made a diving and likely goal-saving tackle, on a breakaway Charlotte FC’s content team commended with a cool overhead video from the Toronto game. But that same play might cost Byrne a start Saturday against New England.

Byrne had to leave the game shortly after with what was characterized as cramping in his hamstring. Smith said Thursday, though, that Byrne was a question mark for Saturday with a hamstring strain. If he’s unable to go, Smith would likely go with rookie Will Cleary, who got his first MLS action replacing Byrne against Toronto.

Cleary was Charlotte’s first-round pick in this year’s MLS SuperDraft from Stanford.

“He's a very intelligent boy, first and foremost,” Smith said. “He's very coachable, very athletic. He was in the top three for most of the physical testing we did during preseason. He's good on the ball, he's good in duels, just the tactical side of the game is something he's had to learn whilst working with us. But a really good learner.”

When/Where: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Bank of America Stadium

How to watch: Apple TV. Find information about how to subscribe for the season here.

How to listen: WFNZ 92.7 in English, WOLS 106.1 in Spanish.

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Carroll Walton is a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution now in her fifth season covering Charlotte FC. She would love to hear from you. E-mail her with questions, suggestions, story ideas and comments!