Fayetteville, Georgia– Jozy Altidore arrived at the new US Soccer National Training Center, a $250 million, 200-acre, 19-field complex south of Atlanta that is very different from where his U.S. team recovered in 2014 from training in a cold plastic bathtub on a paved road outside Cagan Stadium in Stanford, California.
“This is the climax, isn’t it?” The retired striker said Thursday. “That’s what I’m sure the former players strived to be a part of.”
As the Americans prepare to host the World Cup finals next month, the national team’s programs have advanced light years. Sunil Gulati, who later became president of the US Soccer Federation, remembers buying balls at a Kmart store on the morning of a conference game in Colorado Springs, Colo., filled with players trying to get spots on the U.S. roster going to the 1985 FIFA Under-16 World Championship. And then the sprinklers went off during the game.
Facilities continued to improve slightly. The Americans settled in before the 1994 World Cup in a $3.5 million, seven-acre facility that had opened the previous year in Mission Viejo, California. They moved to a training center in Chula Vista, California, for 1998, then trained in Cary, North Carolina, in 2002 and 2006. The team moved to Princeton in 2010 and Stanford in 2014.
In recent years, national team training has taken place at Major League Soccer training facilities. The new training center, which opened on May 7, was funded by a $50 million gift from the Atlanta Falcons and MLS team owner Arthur Bank. Built on a former cow pasture about 25 miles from Atlanta, it is home to all 27 U.S. national teams.
“It’s nice to get first rights to everything you want to do here,” said midfielder Tyler Adams, captain of the US national team at the 2022 World Cup. “When you train at an NFL facility or something like that, it’s their facility. You’re a guest.”
There are 13 full-size grass pitches on three levels, another two with artificial turf, two with sand for beach soccer and two indoors. The USSF moved its office from Chicago to the center, which includes 20 locker rooms, 19 conference rooms, a 10,000-square-foot gym and a kitchen with an adjacent dining area.
The offices are located on the second floor, and some of them overlook the most prominent stadiums, such as the stadium where the World Cup team trained.
“From my office, you can see the grass. It’s the first time I’ve been thrilled to see grass growing,” said JT Batson, CEO of US Soccer.
The US Soccer Federation has studied examples around the world, such as St. George’s Park in England and the French national team’s training center in Clairefontaine.
Players stay in a hotel near Trilith. The area grew rapidly after the opening of Trilith Studios, a film and television production complex where Marvel Studios films are produced.
Defender Chris Richards will be the last to arrive on Friday, after staying with Crystal Palace in the European Conference League final in Germany on Wednesday.
World Cup-bound players watched the U16 women’s team train on Wednesday.
“They can see the first team and how they move and how they work, and that’s where they want to end up,” Adams said. “As a youth national team player, if I had the opportunity to be close to the first team, that would be really special because that is your dream.”
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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup