The U.S. men’s national team’s January camps haven’t ultimately meant much in terms of results and records, but veteran defender Tim Ream praised the importance of it for the program.
Ream heads into January USMNT duty as the oldest member of Mauricio Pochettino’s 24-player roster. The USMNT will face Venezuela and Costa Rica on January 18 and 23 respectively, beginning the start of another year of 2026 World Cup preparation.
With no grueling qualifying schedule on the horizon, the USMNT will have many opportunities to groom their squad before the World Cup comes to U.S. soil in 2026.
Ream, who took part in his first January camp 14 years ago, reflected on the importance of this first camp of 2025.
“There’s still value in a January camp,” Ream said Friday to reporters. “We talk about my first one and it felt like an opportunity to get in front of the national team coach to put on the crest, to put on the training gear and kind of gel with guys that you’re going to potentially be coming through and potentially being involved in more national team camps going forward.
“So there’s definitely value.” he added. “I mean for me, I think it’s important for these guys to understand what the staff wants from them, not just here, but when they go back to their clubs. And I think this is a perfect opportunity to do that in a little bit of a different setting where there’s not the super intense pressure of the first five days to get all the tactics down and be preparing for a game.”
Pochettino won’t have the services of his European stars due to this camp falling outside of a FIFA international window, but will get a look at a lot of players. Majority of Pochettino’s roster play their club soccer in MLS, which will get its 2025 regular season underway in roughly six weeks.
For many of the players called in, this will be their first opportunity to impress the Argentine head coach ahead of competitive tournaments later this year. For others like Ream, this will be a new chance to show their leadership skills and provide valuable experience to many eager young players who want to make a positive impression.
The USMNT know that bigger challenges will come this spring and summer, but want to keep their consistency going, regardless of the opponent.
“Even if you’re on a team that is always winning, you still have to have that kind of bite, that mentality because as soon as you start to feel like you’re at a point where you’re doing well, then the rug gets pulled out from underneath you,” Ream said.
“I think it’s more of a winning mentality every single day, every single training session, every single pass,” he added. “Everything matters, right? And I think that’s more what [Pochettino’s] desire and his meaning is, is that everything counts. Everything matters every single day from the minute you wake up until you go to sleep. And it’s important to understand that and understand what he wants and that shines and shows through in training sessions…They’re intense.”