Sporting Kansas City defender Erik Palmer-Brown returned to training this week, fresh off an U-20 FIFA World Cup campaign with the U.S. Men’s National Team and a long flight back to Kansas City. Palmer-Brown spent four weeks in New Zealand with the USMNT, appearing in one match as the team reached the quarterfinals before falling to Serbia in penalty kicks.
Palmer-Brown recently discussed his time in New Zealand, representing the USMNT at an U-20 World Cup and the talent rising through the ranks of the American system.
Tate Steinlage: How did it feel to represent your country on such a big stage?
Erik Palmer-Brown: It was an amazing feeling. Down in New Zealand, it was an amazing country. It was wintertime there, so it was perfect weather to play. It was just an unreal feeling, getting out there on the world stage and being able to represent your country.
TS: You were able to get some MLS action under your belt before leaving for the U-20 World Cup. How did that help your progression leading up to the tournament?
EPB: It was big, because a lot of guys on the team play for MLS or professional clubs, and they’re getting time. Just to get minutes at your club and prove that you’re in form when you get down there is just a weight lifted off your shoulders, when you get down there and your coach had been seeing you play with your club team.
TS: What did you guys do to kill time off the field when you weren’t focused on games?
EPB: There was some FIFA and 2K (basketball) going on, but mostly just like Netflix. Me and my roommate would watch Netflix. I got him hooked on this show called Arrow and we all got hooked on a show called Empires. We all knocked a season of Empires out in a day, so it was really fun.
TS: Having now appeared in an U-20 World Cup, how hungry are you keep progressing with the USMNT?
EPB: I have another U-20 cycle, so it helped me to see where we can be. Hopefully we can push on and make it to the finals and win ourselves a World Cup for that cycle. That’s what I’m hungry for right now.
TS: Just how much young talent is coming through the pipeline that is the USMNT system?
EPB: It’s unreal. We have guys like Jordan Allen, Rubio Rubin, Zack Steffen. I could go through all 21 players. It’s just an unreal feeling to see how far we’ve progressed as a team, because most of us have been with each other since we were 14 or 15 years old.
TS: Speaking of Steffen, he seemed to come up with save after save against Serbia in penalty kicks. Did you believe the team was going to win with him performing at such a high level in goal?
EPB: Going into the penalty shootout, I think we were all confident. Steffen is a beast. We were going through practice, taking a few PKs, and this guy is saving most of them. We were confident and we went into it and did our best, but unfortunately we didn’t get the result we wanted.
