If there was anything to learn about Matt Freese, it’s that he’s a really serious individual.
Last week, in his return to the Philly area with the U.S. men’s national soccer team, the former Union goalkeeper and Wayne native said he spent the bulk of the week inside the team hotel instead of visiting family and friends.
He wasn’t a complete recluse. He visited a few old friends from the Union, who were training on fields adjacent to the USMNT at the WSFS Bank Sportsplex in Chester. He even took time to speak to classes at YSC Academy, the school created specifically for soccer players aspiring to be in Freese’s shoes.
Other than that? Freese treated the homecoming as a business trip, which was clearly conveyed in refusing all requests for interviews the day before a game and the serious gaze on his face even after the USMNT’s 2-1 win over Paraguay last Saturday.
He returns on Sunday when the Union host New York City FC in MLS’ Eastern Conference semifinal (7:55 p.m., FS1, Apple TV, MLS Season Pass).
“I actually didn’t see my family. I didn’t do anything,” Freese said. “[This week], I just stayed in the hotel. [Chuckles], I’m a bit of a loser, but when I’m in camp, I’m locked in. I’ll see my family in the offseason at some point.”
Freese being locked in isn’t because he’s being standoffish. Instead, it’s his effort to prove to himself that he belongs. He has made sacrifices — particularly whenever he receives that call from the men’s national team.
See, it was roughly around this time last year that Freese was a bit of an afterthought. Incumbent goalkeeper Matt Turner was on a tear for club and country and looked to be a shoo-in for being first up on USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino’s roster.
But amid a lack of playing time with Crystal Palace, Turner’s club team, he fell down the depth chart, as Pochettino told reporters in May that “it’s open for another player maybe to challenge in between [the goalkeepers] and maybe to try to give the possibility to play [to] another player,” according to an ESPN report.
Enter Freese, who has had several call-ups since Pochettino’s remarks and has impressed, notably his performance in the U.S.’s shootout win over Costa Rica the Gold Cup quarterfinals in June. He made three saves in the penalty kick portion of the match, which helped the U.S. vault into the semifinal, and earned soccer’s version of the nickname “Matty Ice.”
From that moment, he’s been a mainstay with the national team. Now, with the last games of the November cycle wrapping up earlier this week, it’s a waiting game to see if he’ll be called into camp for Pochettino’s World Cup squad.
From being an unknown to being No. 1 — the opportunity arguably has never been bigger for Freese.
“What’s driving me is this chance to represent my country,” Freese said. “Having that opportunity is one that I dreamed about but didn’t know if I was ever going to get. So every time I’m called up, I want to make the most of training, and then every time I get to play in a game, I want to make the most of that as well.”
From favorite to foe
One thing that stood out in a conversation with Freese was his reply that when it came to visiting family, he’d do so “in the offseason at some point.”
Coincidentally, if the Union have their way, he might not have to commute too far. A week removed from being the hero against Paraguay, Freese returns to Subaru Park as the villain in his role as the starting goalkeeper for NYCFC.
The meeting is the fourth time the teams will battle in the postseason and the second time for Freese, who was released from the Union in 2022 following the team’s run to the MLS Cup final.
Instead of looking at his ouster from the Union as being on the outside looking in at a professional career, which started in the team’s youth academy, Freese locked in. Just a year after joining NYCFC was named the team’s MVP last season.
Now, he leads NYCFC as the fifth seed in the East looking up at the No. 1 team and Supporters’ Shield winner — on its home field.
“It’s a really exciting time in my career right now,” Freese said. “It’s important however to stay humble and be thankful that I’m in this situation. I have a job to do, and our goal as a team is to be the last team standing. We have to beat the best. That’s what it comes down to.”
Fellow U.S. national team member Max Arfsten notes that mentality as the reason Freese has arrived at this moment. Arfsten, whose Columbus Crew side recently fell out of the Eastern Conference playoffs following a loss to rival club FC Cincinnati, gets a routine look at Freese firsthand over the course of the season and sees something special in the goalkeeper.
“He’s my guy,” Arfsten, a midfielder, said following last week’s USMNT win in Chester. “His ability to control our back line and his communication is big. It allows us to do our job because we know he’s got it covered back there. He’s locked in right now, and that’s really good as we continue to push forward toward the World Cup.”
On his way out of the Union’s locker room last Saturday, Freese briefly struck up a conversation with a security guard stationed just outside the main doors. What was said was muffled, but what was distinctly heard was the security guard ending the conversation in jest with “see you on Sunday.”
Given what’s at stake, and having an obvious familiarity with Philly banter, it might have been one of the few times Freese let his armor down and cracked a smile.
