USA and Valencia’s Yunus Musah: ‘I wasn’t shocked by the racist abuse of Vinícius Jr’

I n the two years and three months since Yunus Musah elected to play for the US men’s national team over England, Italy and Ghana, he has become so integral to the American squad that it’s easy to forget he is still just 20.

After choosing to play for the US, Musah was immediately thrown into the fray of World Cup qualifying, starting for a team pursuing redemption after failing to reach Russia 2018. One year after committing to the US, Musah celebrated on a pitch in Costa Rica as he and his teammates secured their return to the World Cup.

Looking back on the journey, Musah says the highlight has been growing with the team – and not just qualifying for the World Cup, but reaching the knockout stages from a tough group that also included England, Wales and Iran.

The US fell to the Netherlands in the last 16 but Musah is proud of how he and his teammates performed. He combined well with Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie in a scoreless draw against England, the country where he spent large parts of his childhood and played for Arsenal’s academy.

“​​I knew [the England] game was vital,” he says. “I have so many people that know me in England and to showcase myself and not really make an embarrassment, I had to not give them anything bad to talk about. I’m so happy that game went so well. Because if it didn’t, then they would have talked a lot of stuff about it.”

There was more success on Sunday, when Musah helped the US to a second successive Concacaf Nations League title with victory over Canada in the final. The past year at club level has been more challenging though. And not just on the pitch, where he was part of a Valencia team that narrowly avoided relegation from La Liga.

He admits the relegation pressure negatively