Neil Pierre could be on the cusp of his next star turn as he heads to his first USMNT camp
It’s understandable that Cavan Sullivan gets the most hype of the trio of young Union stars on Mauricio Pochettino's latest roster. But Pierre's turn is on the way, and he has earned the right to it.
Most of Neil Pierre’s rapid rise this summer has been watched by a mix of Union fans who’ve enjoyed the team’s turnaround since the World Cup, and soccer savants intrigued by a new big-time prospect.
However, that is about to change, potentially forever. Such is the power of being part of the senior U.S. national team for the first time.
“The biggest thing is, just, you’re representing the whole country,” Pierre said in a meeting with the media from U.S. Soccer’s national training center in suburban Atlanta on Tuesday. “It’s definitely another level from representing Philadelphia to everyone in the States. … You’re representing everyone that doesn’t get seen, and trying to represent the good and not the bad.”
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Understandably, Cavan Sullivan is getting the most hype of the trio of young Union stars on the latest roster. But that doesn’t mean the other two aren’t getting any. Pierre and Frankie Westfield will get their due over the course of the FIFA window that runs from this week through Oct. 6.
He admitted to being “a little nervous coming in here — these players, I’ve watched growing up a little bit, and in the World Cup.”
But as so often happens when the national team has a new generation, there was a warm welcome for a player who has featured for U.S. youth teams since 2022.
“The expectation they gave me was, enjoy, compete, and obviously it’s an honor to represent the crest,” Pierre said. “So do everything and show everything that was the reason why you’re coming here.”
Or, as he put it more bluntly a moment later: “They tell me, like, ‘Yeah, great to meet you, but hey, you better show it on the field.’”
Pierre has reached this point because of his strong play for the Union in recent months. He has featured in all 11 games of the club’s unbeaten run in regular season play since the World Cup, with 10 starts, and is the squad’s top centerback in clearances, tackles, and blocked shots per 90 minutes.
Along with that, he has shown the passing skills that had scouts raving when he was in the academy, and chipped in four goals on top of it all.
» READ MORE: Mauricio Pochettino's opinion of Neil Pierre and Cavan Sullivan's success this year
But he reached that point because of what he did before the summer: a six-month loan to Danish club Lyngby, of which the Union own a piece.
Going there was a key step in proving Pierre was ready for the physicality of MLS, which is a big step up from the reserve team level where the 6-foot-7 defender had been.
“My loan in Denmark, I would say that was a very, very big part of my success this year, I think,” Pierre said. “Being away from home for the first time, seeing a whole different world, it was a good thing — it was kind of like, I would say, my college experience away from college, growing as a person. I think that also translated to [helping] on the field.”
It’s a measure of Pierre’s maturity that he knew the significance of the “college experience” line, and that he’ll never have the real thing. That’s the way it is in the soccer world, as it has already been for so many Union players.
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There’s more symbolism in the fact that this squad also includes Auston Trusty, the first centerback to rise through the Union academy ranks to the pros. It would be quite a sight for Union fans if the Media native and Pierre share the field in one of the Americans’ four upcoming games.
Trusty didn’t arrive in camp until Tuesday afternoon because of some personal commitments, so Pierre hadn’t gotten to meet him yet when he spoke. But Trusty needs no introduction to anyone who comes through the Union ranks. There are photos of him around the campus — no doubt a few more since this year’s World Cup — and he is on the board of the Union’s academy.
“It will definitely be good meeting him,” Pierre said. “On the field, we’ll see how we play together and connect, and then obviously off the field. we’re going to have some banter and jokes about it.”
In the meantime, Pierre was joined on the podium by another centerback from the World Cup team, Miles Robinson. The FC Cincinnati veteran has liked what he has seen.
“Obviously, he’s a great player just to be here in the first place,” Robinson said while seated next to Pierre on the podium. “What I’ve seen so far, he’s obviously strong, a big force, he’s calm on the ball, technical. Just to see him at 18 years old in this game, in this camp, really proving himself day by day, is something to definitely admire and appreciate.”
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