Shaq Moore Backs Pulisic, USMNT Ahead of World Cup on Home Soil
Shaq Moore knows all about the pressure and expectations that come with being a member of Team USA.
The 29-year-old right-back was a surprise addition to the 2022 World Cup roster when the team was still coached by Gregg Berhalter. The 2022 Team USA squad reached the Round of 16 before being eliminated by the Netherlands. It was also the first World Cup squad to feature Christian Pulisic, with Tyler Adams headlining the squad as the youngest captain in program history since 1950.
“It was a great experience,” said Moore in a one-on-one interview with R.org. “Going to the World Cup is always a privilege, especially a lot went into it because we hadn’t qualified in 2018, so it was kind of a new generation, new kind of rebirth of players going into this World Cup in 2022. Definitely a great experience, really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to supporting the guys in this World Cup as well.”
Moore isn’t part of this Team USA squad, with Mauricio Pochettino taking over as manager. However, there are high expectations for this year’s USMNT, with the Americans hosting the World Cup for the first time since 1994.
This roster also features some holdovers from the previous team that Moore was on, including Pulisic, Adams, Sergino Dest, Tim Ream and Weston McKennie. The hope is that the chemistry and the experience from the previous team will carry over into this year’s version.
“It was a good experience with Gregg,” said Moore. “I think he did a great job with us, especially bringing the guys together. We had a young team, a few egos coming in here and there, especially in the beginning. I think he did a great job of just making us all feel welcome, making us feel like a team. We did a lot of events, team bonding as well on and off the field.
“We obviously got out of the knockout stage around the Round of 16, I think it was right after the group,” Moore continued. “You always want more, especially going into the World Cup, but I think it was definitely a good showing for us to build on.
Obviously bigger expectations coming into this one as well, especially being on home soil, but I think it was a good, good showing for us to get that core together. A lot of young guys were in that group, and a little bit more mature coming in around this time.”
Praise for Pulisic
A lot of attention will be on Pulisic, who is considered the best player on the roster. The 27-year-old recently broke a 19-game goal-less streak — in club and international competition — by scoring a goal in Team USA’s 3-2 win over Senegal in a recent international friendly game.
Pulisic didn’t have his most productive season with his club AC Milan, going the last 20 games of the season without scoring a goal. He also dealt with injuries, as he was sidelined for one game recently due to a gluteal muscle issue.
If Team USA is to go on a deep run, they’re going to need their best player to produce similar to how he did against Senegal.
“Christian is great, man,” said Moore. “I’ve known Christian since we were like 16-17 years old. So seeing him develop, come a long way to where he is now has been great, man. He’s always been one of our leaders on the teams, both on and off the field, played for big clubs, played big games, so we follow his lead. Christian is great, man. And I’m sure he’ll do great in this World Cup as well.”
Moore gives major props to Pulisic for his stoic demeanor, something that is almost necessary considering the amount of attention and pressure that’s constantly on the Pennsylvania native.
“He’s always been like that, kind of a hard worker,” said Moore of Pulisic.
“I think he’s had to kind of be stoic, especially with all the pressure that is on him. We win, he’s great, we lose, it seems like his whole world comes crashing out in terms of media and the scrutiny. I commend him for it, it’s tough to be in this position, especially one of our marquee players playing at a big club. They expect a lot out of him, but he handles it with grace all the time.”
Contributions From The Entire Squad
When the topic of one of the keys to advancing deep is playing in the group stage, Moore agrees with that notion. Team USA will be in the same group with the likes of Turkey, Australia and Paraguay, with USA considered slight favorites over Turkey. The stronger the group showing, the more favorable the matchup will be for Team USA in the next round. He also hammers home how important it is to have the entire roster playing well — not just the star players such as Pulisic — when it comes to advancing in the tournament.
“It’s always group from the first guy to the 26th guy,” said Moore. “You need everybody locked in, staff as well. That’s always the key, you know. No one player can win any game by himself. There’s always good big names on good teams in Europe, and it always starts with the first game. Get another group, and then take it from there, you never want to look too far into a tournament, and bypass what’s going on right now. I think that’s the key to getting far.”
“On paper, you could be the favorite against Paraguay, against maybe Turkey, against Australia, but that means nothing if you show up and you’re not intense and you don’t get the job done,” said Moore. “Definitely have to focus on the group play, especially the first game against Paraguay. You don’t want to overlook any team, you don’t want to look too far ahead of the tournament before you actually get there. So focus on the group play, get out of the group. If you finish first, obviously that’s better, you get a favorable matchup hopefully in the next round. But yeah, get through a group stage, finish as high as you can, and go from there.”
Moore doesn’t have any issues with the 26-man roster, saying Pochettino did a good job selecting the squad.
“No, I think the roster is good,” said Moore. “It was always going to be a tough roster, guys get left out, unfortunately, that’s kind of the nature of the game, but I think the most important thing is just needing a mentality. I think Pochettino kind of stressed that as well as a few camps that I’ve been with him. With the right mentality that you can beat anybody on any given day. You gotta give the team the respect, but not too much respect. You might be favorable against one team or another, but you got to go out there competing and get the result.”
The former Team USA defender said that the team is definitely in “favorable” conditions as the host country. But he warns that they still have to go out there, compete, and win it.
“Definitely favorable, especially at home and hosting it,” said Moore. “It’s always good to be the host country getting that support, but like I said, you can look into it, but it really doesn’t mean much if you show up and you’re not willing to compete and go after it. They got to go out there on the field and do your thing.”
Deep USMNT Run Would be “Great” for American Soccer
He said if the Pulisic-led Team USA squad can go on a deep run while hosting the World Cup, it can have a similar effect to the 1994 squad when the United States last hosted the tournament. It eventually led to the creation of the MLS in 1996, with Moore currently playing for FC Dallas in the league.
“I think it’d be great,” said Moore. “The deep run would definitely bring the country together, put more eyes on soccer that’s already a growing sport in the country. I think the further we get, always the better. I think the U.S. fans we tend to gravitate more towards the game during the World Cup. The furthest we can go when all the eyes are on us is always going to be better, so hopefully we can inspire the next generation of players like in ’94. If we can go as far as we can, that will always be great for the country, and kids growing up.”