USMNT's Cameron: Rest of world doesn't understand how tough CONCACAF is

Nick Rosano

The US national team came under some scrutiny from fans and media alike after recently losing to Guatemala for the first time since 1988, and though they bounced back, at least one USMNT player says he got some grief from his club teammates after the national team struggled in Guatemala.

Ex-Houston Dynamo defender Geoff Cameron said in a Thursday Facebook Q&A on the US Soccer page that he's gotten some stick from his Stoke City teammates after losing to then-No. 95 ranked Guatemala. His response?

They just don't understand how tough playing in CONCACAF – North and Central America plus the Caribbean – really is.

"No, because I get a lot of stick from guys in England and guys on the team saying we go down to Guatemala, where they don’t have the understanding of how things are in their stadium," Cameron replied when the question was posed to him. "When you go down there, the amount of travel and everything thrown against you when you play teams like Costa Rica, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, you name it.

"They do whatever they can to get an edge on you. They’ll have bands and sing songs outside the stadium and hotel to make sure you’re staying up, they’ll call your room, all little things like that tactics to throw you off your game. But that’s what makes it special."

CONCACAF teams enjoyed a strong showing at the 2014 World Cup, perhaps lending a bit of credence Cameron's claim. The US and Mexico both made the knockout round, while Costa Rica were only denied an improbable semifinal berth by a penalty shootout loss to the Netherlands. There's also the small matter of the Ticos beating out England in the group stage, which allows Cameron to give as good as he gets when it comes to locker room banter.

"I always like to throw the jab at England where Costa Rica qualified first out of their group and England didn’t," he enthused. "I love to throw that jab at the England guys."

You can check out the full Q&A below: