A place called home: US Soccer's hope for the future

ATLANTA, July 16 : U.S. Soccer believes a new state-of-the-art training centre and finally having a permanent home can put it on equal footing with football's powerhouse nations in the years ahead, as they look to the future following an early end to their World Cup adventure.

Excitement and enthusiasm turned to familiar disappointment for U.S. fans as the team topped their group and reached the round of 16 only to exit the tournament in a 4-1 defeat by Belgium.

The U.S. Soccer National Training Center in Fayetteville, outside Atlanta, opened in May in time for World Cup preparations, relocating their headquarters and almost 400 employees from Chicago.

"This is the first time U.S. soccer has ever owned a blade of grass," the centre's general manager Tom Norton told Reuters.

"It's an opportunity for us to bring all of our operation under one roof together so we can push our game to the next level."

The centre is the latest stage of its namesake Arthur Blank's quest to turn Atlanta into the country's soccer capital.

The owner of the NFL's Falcons, Blank poured $50 million into the project and was also the engine behind the city's MLS franchise Atlanta United and is bringing an NWSL team to the region in 2028.

The centre features 17 outdoor playing surfaces, including 13  regulation-size grass pitches, along with a full-size artificial turf indoor pitch, the Nike High Performance Gym, and dining and nutrition areas.

All 27 U.S. national teams will be catered for at the 200-acre facility, but there are plans to involve others.

"We're not going to limit what we're working with here," Norton said.

"We're going to make sure that the rest of the soccer world can be welcomed here and grow the game together. The doors are open to the