HANOVER, N.J. — One glance at the U.S. men’s national team roster for upcoming international friendlies against Brazil and Mexico shows one glaring stat — DeAndre Yedlin, 52 caps.
The Newcastle United fullback is by far the most experienced player on the international stage on a 25-man roster with an average age of 23 years, 241 days and an average cap total of just 11.
The Seattle native is the sage veteran amongst the group — at 25 years of age.
“It’s just a different perspective,” Yedlin said Monday morning before the USMNT trained at the New York Red Bulls facility. “When you’re the younger guy you’re kind of only looking after for yourself. Obviously you have to be a bit selfish in terms of what you’re doing, but when you’re the older guy you have to look out for the younger guys as well. If they make mistakes or need help with something, you help them.”
It wasn’t long ago the former Seattle Sounders standout was that young guy on a veteran squad. He was part of the last World Cup squad, making his debut against Portugal and, as a late-game substitute, set up then-Sounders teammate Clint Dempsey for the go-ahead goal in the 2-2 draw.
Now, after the failed qualification bid for the 2018 World Cup, Yedlin appears to be solidly entrenched an important part of the young core looking to book a spot in the 2022 World Cup.
“He’s now one of the seasoned guys you would say with caps,” U.S. interim coach Dave Sarachan said. “I think again, has showed a good maturation now in terms of his approach dealing and working with a lot of these young guys. Clearly, playing 90 minutes for Newcastle speaks for itself.”
Yedlin believes friendly matches like the USMNT lined up this fall — beginning against Brazil at MetLife Stadium Friday — can only serve to help the maturation process for the young squad.
“I think it’s good that these kind of games can kind of get out early in their careers because, obviously when you get to the World Cup it’s a different stage, but after that really any team you play isn’t, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s this team or this team,’” Yedlin said. “We’re playing some big teams this year and I think it will be a great test for us.”
Yedlin arrives in camp two days removed from a personal milestone. He scored his first Premier League goal in Newcastle’s 2-1 loss at defending champion Manchester City. Yedlin became the first American to score in the EPL since Geoff Cameron did so with Stoke City in 2014.
DeAndre Yedlin scores his first Premier League goal and it's a nice one! pic.twitter.com/kyyluClVdp
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) September 1, 2018
“It’s kind of a relief,” Yedlin said with a smile. “I was going on a lot of games without a goal there so it was kind of a relief. First things first, the result is the most important thing. I wish we could have got a better result.”
Yedlin was also relieved he was even on the field, playing another 90 minutes for Newcastle after a frightening knee injury in a season-opening 2-1 loss at home to Tottenham last month.
“As soon as it happened, I thought it’s going to be bad. The doc actually came in after and said I’m just going to be quite blunt with you, just based on the video it looked pretty bad,” Yedlin said. “I was just hoping it wasn’t swollen in the morning. Luckily when I woke up, it really wasn’t swollen at all. I went to get an MRI and got the results back and showed that there was literally nothing. I’m not really sure what happened, but I’m thankful for whatever helped saved it and hopefully nothing like that happens again.”