Jozy Altidore arrived at the new U.S. Soccer National Training Center, a $250 million, 200-acre, 19-field complex south of Atlanta, far different from where his 2014 American team recovered from practice in a plastic cold tub on a paved path outside Stanford’s Cagan Stadium in California.
“This is the culmination, right?” the retired striker said Thursday. “This is what I’m sure past players strived to want to be a part of.”
As the Americans prepare to host the World Cup next month, the national team programs have progressed light years. Sunil Gulati, who would later become U.S. Soccer Federation president, recalled buying balls from a Kmart on the morning of an intrasquad game at Colorado Springs, Colorado, filled with players trying to earn spots for the U.S. roster going to the 1985 FIFA Under-16 World Championship. And then sprinklers went off during the match.
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