COLUMBUS, Ohio – In the days leading up to the 2016 edition of USA-Mexico, much has been made of young players preparing themselves for the experience of such an intense rivalry match with more history behind it than any other in American soccer.
To be sure his players know what they’ll be dealing with on Friday at MAPFRE Stadium (7:45 pm ET; FS1 & Univision), US coach Jurgen Klinsmann enlisted the help of some locals to have a talk with his players.
Klinsmann asked a trio of former US internationals – Columbus Crew SC head coach Gregg Berhalter, assistant coach Josh Wolff and brand ambassador Frankie Hejduk – to go to lunch with the team on Wednesday to talk about their history with the rivalry.
The current players seemed to absorb their message.
“I thought it was awesome to have those guys come in and have them give us a little brief history on what happened when they played against them,” defender Steve Birnbaum said. “It was cool to hear their experiences, especially Frankie’s.”
In Columbus and across the country, Hejduk is known for his energy. He said things got heated at lunch.
“It got a little emotional,” he said. “It’s good, I think, for the players to feel what our emotions still are because they’re still very high on these games with Mexico, even though we’re not playing anymore. … If you’re going to tell a story about USA-Mexico, believe me, it’s not not emotional. My hair starts to raise, my heart rate starts going faster. There’s real, legitimate emotions happening there.”
Klinsmann said that passion was important to see, especially for the team’s teenagers and other players who have yet to experience the matchup.
“Put yourself in the mindset of our younger players,” he said. “Cameron Carter-Vickers comes through the ranks at Tottenham Hotspur and he’s on the way to kind of becoming a senior national team player, and he was just looking at them with big eyes and saying, ‘Wow, look at these stories.’ So it’s important that older players connect to the younger players and tell them what it means to them and the feelings they have.”
Plus, he said, it’s easy to be enthusiastic around Hejduk.
“You guys know Frankie,” Klinsmann said with a laugh. “He’s a character. He gets the guys going.”
But for Hejduk, that enthusiasm is genuine. He said ex-players like him, Berhalter and Wolff are “living vicariously” through the team now, and still “want to be out there.” He said he wanted to prepare the team for a “battle.”
“If you’re a player and you see what an ex-player is feeling and see his veins sticking out and his hair raised, you go, ‘Whoa,’” he said. “That would really hit me if I were them.”
Birnbaum, who is preparing for his first Mexico game, said the message landed.
“[Frankie was] very animated,” he said. “It was very fun listening to him. He brought it to life; it was good to hear from him.”
For Hejduk, the conversation wasn’t just to prepare the players for what they’ll face. He said the Crew SC trio wanted to convey how important the match was to them and the entire country of soccer fans.
“Every one of these players is skilled and athletic and has great tactics, so now you need something else within to come out of you,” he said. “That’s the message. There needs to be something inside your heart that really feels for one another and this team and this country.”
And for Hejduk and others who remember a time when Mexico dominated the rivalry, staying on top – especially in Columbus – means the world to them. When the match starts tomorrow, Hejduk says he’ll be watching with tears in his eyes, even from the sideline.
“We don’t want to let that honor go,” he said. “We don’t want to give up that title.”
