Tim Ream: USMNT a 'true representation of what America is' - ESPN

SEATTLE — United States men's national team defender Tim Ream said the diverse background of the players on the USMNT is «a true representation of what America is.»

The U.S. captain spoke to reporters prior to the team's World Cup training session on the campus of the University of Washington, with the USMNT set to celebrate July Fourth later in the day at a rooftop bar where they will watch celebratory fireworks.

The U.S. side is a mix of players born both at home and abroad, with some like Weston McKennie and Sergiño Dest the children of U.S. service members.

Ream said these backgrounds make for a unique blend of personalities and helped form a tight-knit group.

«First and foremost, it is special,» Ream said about celebrating July Fourth with the team," he said.

«Obviously it's doubly special because it's during the World Cup and triple special because it's here in the U.S. But yeah, we've said this as a group with all our different backgrounds, where we all have grown up, it's a true representation of what America is.

»It's a melting pot of people, of personalities, of characters, and like I said, it's a perfect representation of what the U.S. is and what it's about."

Even Argentine manager Mauricio Pochettino has been immersing himself in American culture.

On Friday night hethrew out the first pitch at a Seattle Mariners game.

«I think he's obviously taken to the culture, and at the same time has added his bit of culture to us as well,» Ream said about Pochettino.

«So I think as he said after the first time here in Seattle, he felt something with the „Country Roads“ being played and blasted through the stadium. So it's just incredible.»

Ream spent the bulk of his professional career in England with Bolton Wanderers