Even USMNT kicks around Trump-Clinton question (original) (raw)
STOKE, England – The biggest week of the year is looming for the United States men’s soccer team and Geoff Cameron is ready.
Cameron, one of two Americans (with goalkeeper Brad Guzan) who are regular starters in the English Premier League, is fired up to plot Mexico’s demise in the opening game of the final round of World Cup qualifying.
And he is ready for his teammates, who he knows will come after him with both barrels.
Cameron is an avid follower of politics who is not afraid to speak his mind. With the squad due to congregate in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday ahead of the Mexico clash four days later, coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s squad will be together to watch the drama of election night unfold.
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Just like in living rooms around the country, disagreements will ensue. Cameron, as one of a small group on the national team who is backing Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, figures to be at the center of much of the chatter.
“(Some) of the guys on the national team, they hate Trump,” Cameron told USA TODAY Sports last week in an office close to Bet365 Stadium — home of his EPL team for the past five years, Stoke City. “Most of them are definitely more liberal than conservative.
“There are some arguments that I have had with teammates. Most of them I have tried to have a conversation with are like ‘No, are you crazy?’ They ask what are Trump’s policies, and I will name his policies or ideas and I challenge them about (Clinton’s) policies. We go back and forth.”
Cameron devours literature, watches TV news, listens to talk radio and is even rumored to have called in to an English political show under an assumed name. Within the national team his beliefs have little support. Nevertheless the 31-year-old, who hails from the firmly Democrat stronghold of Attleboro, Mass., is undeterred.
“I try to discourage him from talking politics on the national team,” said his father, Scott Cameron, a former pro hockey player. “There are only one or two who come from a Republican point of view.”
Cameron frequently squares off with midfielder Alejandro Bedoya, one of his closest friends on the U.S. squad. They rant at each other on Facetime over the merits or otherwise of the candidates and their platforms.
Sometimes one or the other will hang up in frustration, Cameron says, yet their friendship has been unaffected.
Cameron has done his homework on the ongoing campaign and current events. He admits that Trump is far from being an ideal candidate, but says that is overridden by his strong mistrust for Clinton, claiming he would likely not shake her hand if it was offered.
“The fact is if you have two numpties (English slang loosely meaning ‘idiot’) who are not great candidates,” Cameron said. “Which one has the possibility of changing a little bit for the better? Not someone who might have years of backhanders and corruption behind her.”
One thing that cannot be questioned is Cameron’s love of his country. All down his right arm is a tattoo themed around national pride, featuring an image of the Stars and Stripes, a bald eagle, words from the Declaration of Independence and a map of 18th century Boston.
He has emerged as a rock for Klinsmann, with the versatility to play in the center of defense, as a holding midfielder, or as right back. Physically tireless, his uncompromising style could be critical against a star-studded Mexico team that the U.S. has beaten at this stage of World Cup qualifying four times in a row, 2-0 on each occasion.
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“His physical abilities are unsurpassed in this country,” DC United defender Bobby Boswell said. Boswell has known Cameron since their days together on the Houston Dynamo, where the underrated Cameron fell to 42nd in the MLS Draft and started on just $34,000 per season. “Guys come back from national team camp and talk about how he is a freak of nature. That has helped him settle so well in England, where only the toughest survive.”
Scott Cameron said he believes part of the reason his son is so invested in politics is because it provides a connection to home. While he has become part of the furniture at Stoke, national team trips are always keenly anticipated, both for the chance to play at international level and through a sense of patriotic duty.
He would be “furious” if a teammate followed Colin Kaepernick's lead and took a knee during the playing of the anthem against Mexico next Friday. “We are a team,” Cameron says. “Don’t make it about you.”
Cameron has worked long and hard to reach this point. Many of those drafted ahead of him have become MLS journeymen or are out of the game. Meanwhile, he plays in the most competitive league in the world, as someone Stoke boss Mark Hughes relies heavily upon.
While central defenders or holding midfielders don’t grab the headlines, there might be no other U.S. player performing at a higher or more consistent level. Cameron has a sideline as a model for Paul Mitchell hair products, but a show pony he is not.
“He is a gamer,” Boswell said. “The bigger the occasion, the more he gets stuck in and gets down to work. A lot of guys go to England or other leagues in Europe and they come back and you hear about how it is hard to adapt over there. Geoff has almost made it look easy by settling in and becoming a trusted and reliable – and of course it is not easy.”
Cameron’s contract is up after next season and at some point he will be faced with the decision of whether to return home. Major League Soccer has money to spend and the likes of Michael Bradley, Tim Howard, Bedoya and others have returned from European stints.
Yet Cameron has a never-ending appetite for toil and the physical nature of the game in England suits him. The Mexico game, given the hostile nature of the rivalry, should be the same.
The Columbus showdown comes at an intriguing time. The result of the election three days prior could add spice, especially if Trump prevails. Columbus was chosen in part because it has a small Mexican population, ensuring home-field advantage.
The top three of the six remaining nations in the CONCACAF region reach the World Cup, the fourth enters a playoff with an Asian country. The U.S. should be strong enough to reach the World Cup for an eighth straight time. However, a bad start can easily get you in trouble. A road game in Costa Rica, where the Americans lost in the last cycle, follows for next Tuesday.
“It is a huge week,” Cameron said. “I’ll be happy with two wins. Three if you count the election.”