Hugo Pérez on U.S. Soccer Podcast: "We have the talent. We need to have the person who can put them in there and take...

the scandal. It was a scandal. Somebody from the club told me, look, a US soccer has called us. They want to know if you're interested in becoming a citizen to play for them. I was going to turn 18 with that happen. And I said, yeah, you know, I'm interested. And then from there, it's like, it's history. I went to the workup under 20s in Mexico, 1983. And that's how I started. Was it these guys who helped you see, like how influential a coach can be on a player's life? Yeah, it was. And you know what? That's been a beautiful chapter because I wasn't ever planning to coach, to be honest with you. It was an accident. Hello, and welcome to the US Soccer Podcast. I'm your host, Megan Klingerberg. And right now, currently, we are smack dab. In the middle of Hispanic Heritage Month. Now, if you don't know anything about the month, that's OK, because I didn't before we had this guest on. And I started researching about what is Hispanic Heritage Month. But essentially, it honors the history, its cultures, and contributions of the Hispanic community. So please, check it out. It's a little bit confusing because it starts in the middle of September on September 15th and ends on October 15th. But that doesn't matter. It's still very cool. And just a few weeks ago, I got to sit down with a very special guest named Hugo Perez to talk all things, coaching, playing football, and family. Let's check it out. Thank you very much for having me. It's a pleasure to be in the show. Pleasure to talk about football. So very happy to be with you here. I'm so excited to talk about football with you. I love talking about football with coaches, because I feel like I never got to get enough of that in my however long career. Anyways, so I like to hip up my guests on the show. And you have quite a long resume. Are you ready? Let's do it. All right, let's do it. You are a 2008 inductee into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. You were in 73 international caps and scored 13 goals for the United States over a 10-year career on the national team. You played in the 1994 World Cup, the 1984 Summer Olympics, and was named the 1991 US Soccer Athlete of the Year. Welcome to the show. Thank you very much for having me. Glad to be here with you. Thank you. OK, the last time the US hosted the men's World Cup was in 1994, which you played in. What was it like for you to see a plate on home soil again this past summer? Does it feel kind of full circle? Yeah, it was. And also going back to 94 and what happened this year, it just reminds you how far the US has grown in football and with fans all over the country. So I was glad to see them host again the World Cup. Because I think it helps our future players coming up to be able to cherish and look forward to not only representing our country, but we're talking now, obviously, in 94, if you probably remember, there was no league when the World Cup occurred. And then after the World Cup in 94, MLS came about, and then obviously he has grown so much right now. And then also you can see that he helped a lot, the World Cup in 94. Because soccer expanded a little over the country. And then after that, more players from our country started to go overseas to face better competitions and better clubs in the world. And now, obviously, when you look at that roster that just finished the World Cup, I would have to say 90% of those players are playing overseas. So it's been great, obviously, we would have won to probably do better in what happened in the World Cup. But I think it's a step going forward for the future of our generations. Now, I found it so exciting, like I love watching soccer, but then being able to see all of the best players in the world play in our country on home soil was really, really exciting. And made me think back to my World Cup in 2015 and all of the fun memories that happened and the things that we went through. And as I mentioned, you also played in a World Cup in 1994, which was on home soil. And I wanted to know, do you have a favorite memory from that time that you want to share with all of us? Yes, Fourth of July. And this is a true story. We qualify for the second round for the World Cup in 94. And I think we qualify in second place. And what caused that was that we went straight to play Brazil in the second round. Fourth of July in Stanford. And I remember three days, four days before that big match. Brazil was obviously playing well. All the stars that they had, and there were articles and remember the paper saying that the US was going to lose by five seats or more goals to Brazil. And I remember, and this is, I still remember it, I am. We went to Stanford the night before the game to train. Usually you go in and see the field and everything given out to train. And in Borough, we looked to know this was our coach. So I said to Borough, Borough, can you please leave us alone on the bus? And we want to be alone. I just want to talk to the guys. And he said, yeah, no problem. So all the coaches that have left. And I don't remember if you remember Fernando Clarico, who was the right back at that time. He passed away. Anyway, to make a long story short, I talked to the guys and I said, look, tomorrow we play against the best probably team in the world, I said. But it doesn't matter who they are, what the short says, what matters is what we're going to do tomorrow, which is we're going to come out with no fear. We're going to come out, attack them. We're going to come out, pressure them. And we are going to make sure they understand that, even though we are America, we had played him before two, three times in Brazil. We played him with us to be zero. But when we came out of the field, the people were applauding us the way we played football. And usually you don't do that in Brazil. They boo you when you lose. So we knew him. But this was obviously for real. And I said, so tomorrow, every one of us, when we come out of that tunnel, I said, OK, you're going to look at them face when we're walking out, making sure that they understand we don't fear them. And that's when we came out the next day. And obviously, we played so well that we were walking at halftime through the locker at Stanford. And I heard, because we passed in locker room, they were upset, complaining, and not knowing what had happened. And obviously, we ended up losing one zero. But that's the most memory, because I think that change our mentality as far as competing international for something. And I still feel up to this day that that's one of the most important things when you compete internationally. Players, you went through that, you come out, you want to play a being porn game, you have shells, and you're a little bit nervous. But once that ball starts rolling, it your focus. And you're going to beat that player one on one. And that's going to be your best game. And that's the fun memory that I remember. And my wife told me she was sitting at the stands, and she was telling me after the game that the people were saying, what is it with this US soccer? Why are they playing like that? Why can Brazil beat them so bad? And I think for me, that was the best memory of the World Cup. You are right. There is something so special and important about taking your flag and planting it on your side of the field and being like, I'm flying my flag here today. And you're not going to get the best of me. And if everybody on the team does that, then most likely, you're going to come through with a win. Now, if the team is Brazil and they're the best team in the world, then maybe you come out with a 1-0 loss. But either way, it still feels so good when every single person on the pitch is like winning their 1v1 battle against the other person. And that's the best thing about soccer, right, is that on any given day, anybody can win. Yeah, and look, I think obviously people see the scores and everything. But we were happy. And I remember when Bora came in the first day, he said to us, look, we're going to change the way we play football in America. And obviously, we wanted to hear that, because he had come from coaching the World Cup with Mexico and then also with Costa Rica. So he said, we're going to change our style. We want to possess the ball. We want to play with the ball. And when we finished that game in 94 against Brazil, I looked at the game and we had the ball. We wanted the ball. We just didn't play a long ball and then see what happens. No, we had the ball. We played. We persisted. We created some chances. And for me, it was a big step for our players in our country, because I still believe until this day that whether it's a women's team or a men's team, we can play football if we want to. We can make sure that our players believe that when they have the ball, they can do something with it. And they can create and they can have confidence. And that for me, sometimes it's better than just one score. You see what I'm saying? Because that shows me that our players have gained the confidence to play at the most highest level. And that's for me was a joy to see. And we are talking about the highest level right now, right? Like the World Cup is the highest level that you could possibly play in. But you had to start somewhere. And you started in El Salvador. That's where you grew up. grew up, excuse me. What was your child like growing up there? Basically, my mom tells me that when I started walking, she put like a little ball inside my, I don't know why you call it here in America. It's where you put the kids inside. You live in there and they're playing around by themselves. Like a little play, panel, master. So I was hanging by the thing there and I was kicking the ball. That's how I started. And then obviously growing up, I was playing soccer since, I started kindergarten. But I was playing on the streets with my neighborhood. Obviously in the 70s, it was a safe place to go out and play around with your friends. And then I remember my first game, I think it was seven years old. We played what they call in our country, Baby Football. And then from there, believe me, I went to school, came back play. Went to for lunch, came back and played. I used to travel all around my country. This is a small country in the capital. Looking to play anywhere until I moved in when I was 11 years old here to America. But football was, I remember, you know, you haven't asked me, but my first World Cup I saw my first World Cup in 1970 when Brazil became champions. And I said, I was watching from outside, we didn't have a TV, there was a TV in sign I was watching it from outside. And I said in my mind, I said, one day, I'm going to play in the World Cup. I thought I was going to play for my country, obviously. But that was my dream, you know, and from that, football was my passion. Until obviously I became a professional player here in America in the NSL when I was 17. But that's how I grew. It was football, football, football, football. You're right, football is life, especially in Hispanic countries. I've traveled to a bunch of Hispanic countries for World Cups, for friendlies, or just in general to take a vacation. And every time I there, I find it so fun to see all of the kids, all of the people, playing soccer in the parks and the streets, anywhere there's space to play, people are playing. And you talked about what that was like for you, where it's always around. I wonder, can that be taught? Can the USA become like that? Look, you know, everybody talks about the environments and obviously what football is in this country. In the days that we're living it is becoming more difficult. You know, I was in Europe about two, three years ago. And when you go to Europe now, even those people who have obviously had soccer for years, years and years, they're saying now that a lot of kids are playing less in the streets, okay? They're more orientated to academies. I think the advantage of playing, or kids playing soccer in neighborhoods by themselves, is that when it's not taught, okay? Those kids have the freedom to do whatever they want, okay, they use their creativity. If they mess up, nobody says anything, okay? And I think that's why we're lacking sometimes in our country. And even with our academies, the same thing. I hope in the future that people would realize that, even if they come to academies, you still can create an environment where they can feel that way, especially you know that the younger kids, let them play football, let them enjoy it, let them get things wrong, let them try. Because by the age from six to around 11, it's where they're going to get all their technical skills if we don't stop them. If we don't put a, you know, a rule when they play. After that, then obviously you start guiding them how they're going to play and all that stuff when they go to college or professional, but before that, we need to create those environments that those people, girls, boys, can have the freedom to play the way they want to. And we just need to enjoy it, you know, we need to let them be free in that sense. Why is it so important for them to enjoy it and feel that freedom at such a young age without people telling them what to do? Because I mean, you played at the high level, okay? And people ask me, is it difficult to play at the high level? Personally, I don't think it is. The difficult thing is to get there and maintain yourself at the higher level. But football will always be a sport to be enjoying. You see, it's, it's the only sport that you have to master the ball with your feet. Everybody else is used to hands and everything else. So when it comes to soccer, is your feet. And when the more you have the feeling of the ball at your feet, the more you can dominate that ball and make it do whatever you want. So even when you become a pro still, and you know, it is not a job to be honest with you. I mean, think about this. Obviously, now I at least spend a lot of time in football. It changed from 30 years now. But still, you are doing something to entertain people when they go to the stadium. So we're, footballers are responsible to entertain people, okay? And obviously we want to win. There's, there's no, there's no doubt about that. But the entertainment of football is what creates me a passion to be better, okay? So the enjoyment of coming out of the stadium you play probably in front of 90,000 people, 100,000 people. And you come out and you make, you get the ball, you make certain moves, you score a goal. People cheer, people are happy. And you inside feel comfortable and good about it because you're making people happy. So that's why football has to be always enjoyable. Ronaldinho used to say, look, I play football because I want to make sure that people enjoy it, okay? And I want to give him something. I want to give him a show. I want to create something that they can understand how beautiful football is at the essence of football, okay? Because you have football and you have the essence of football. And the essence of football is the creativity of a player, the touch that a player has. When you, you know, I mean, you have the experience. You look at a girl and you go watch a game or a boy and the first time that ball is passed to that person, you exactly know how she stopped that ball. She's how she conducted that ball with finesse, precise technique. That's beautiful football. And that's what our kids need when they're growing it up. And forget about obviously in America, we like winners and everything, I think that's good. But there's an age where we need to let them be free, in that sense, and think about it. So when they grow up and become soccer players, they don't do it just for a job. They do it because they want to entertain people. Well, that's why I did it. I mean, if I didn't, if I wasn't having fun my entire career, I would have stopped a long time ago. I mean, I played until 36 years old and I still felt like a kid every time I stepped out on the field. And that's, to me, the most important thing. And that's the thing that I always tell parents or kids when they ask me like, what's your biggest advice? I always say joy equals success. Because if you're having fun, then success follows. And I don't think it's the opposite way. I don't think you find success and then you become happy because of it. I've played at the highest level on the World Cup and didn't feel any happier in my life because I had won. I felt happy because of all of the soccer that I got to play there in the World Cup and then also after it. Like that's what brought me the joy. And I think most people, if they really look deep, are probably the same way. And it's really fun to hear you talk about like this essence of the game. And I think that I didn't really start to understand that I probably understood it intuitively when I was young but then didn't understand it till I was much older in my career that I needed to tap into that and play with that. And so it is pretty cool that you were talking about that essence of soccer and something that you knew from such a young age because people might not know but you come from a soccer lineage. Some might even say dynasty in El Salvador. Your grandfather founded the club, De Partido Fubilistas, Associados and Tacos. And FAS and it's the most successful club in El Salvador. I did wanna know, was there pressure to become a soccer player? I know you said that you wanted to be when you watched the World Cup in 1970 but was there pressure from your family to also do that? No, you know, my dad played professional for some years before he moved here. My grandfather, my cousins, but it was no pressure, honestly. And I think one of the things that I say every time is my mother, because I grew up more with her, she did not restrain me or put any pressure on me or stopped me from loving this sport at the contrary. She was a very important person in providing me not only the freedom but the means for me to play football. So there was no pressure on it. My dad never said, you have to be a professional, no. But as I was growing up, my dad understood that I had something, okay? My grandfather understood when I had something talent. Now obviously in life you never know how it's gonna turn out. But I think I myself, as a young kid, realized the passion that I had for football, okay? And I said, like I said, I mean, 70 was, I said, I want to put in the work. But as I was growing up and playing more and more, I enjoyed it so much that I said, look, I started thinking, okay, I'm still a kid, but if I want to get better, I want to play more. I want to play more, I want to do more, I want to train more. And the passion, apart from being a joyful passion, I think it direct me to be more disciplined in my life as a young kid, because again, I was looking at the top, all right? And that was my dream, playing in a world cup, play professional. I used to go to the stadium by myself, okay? And in the old times, kids were free to go, but you had to go with an adult. So I went to the stadium every time, and I'd find somebody and say, can I come in with you? And he'd say, yeah, come on. And I would come in with him, and then obviously I would go by myself. Just to be in the stadium, just to see the green grass, just to see the crowd. So I got so much use to that, but I never felt that my dad or family put any pressure on me. Now, my dad was, after every game, something we were talking to me, and this is a true story, he would never told me, you did great, okay? He would always just leave it alone and say, look, I saw the game. I should do this better, better, better. That was it. Nobody, lift me up or anything, and I think that was good, because I learned from my mistakes. But yeah, there was no pressure, even though my family obviously were soccer family from my dad's side. But again, I think you're born with that talent, okay? You know, my kids, I have five children right now, none of them played football professionally. They played in college, now they're coaches, okay? My son was the assistant coach with the World Cup, where we were competing three years ago, he was with the earthquakes now, but they never played professionally, because I never put pressure on them to do that, you know? But I would have to say, no, at least from that perspective, I was free to do whatever I wanted, and it was my passion that just kept me going. Now, you moved to the United States when you were still pretty young. I talked to players like Katarina Makaria, who came from Brazil and immigrated to the United States when she was young, and she talked about the hardest transition for her was learning the English language. And so it had me thinking, what was the hardest part about that transition for you? Not playing soccer every day in the streets. I moved in 74 to Los Angeles, okay? And if you go, I don't know, you've probably been in the late, there's parts in the late where you have Mexicans, Salvadorians, you know, you have Asian, and every part. So I moved basically at a neighborhood where a lot of Salvadorians were there. And again, I was 11 years old. My dad used to play semi-pro there for a club team called El Salvador, which X players who haven't retired were playing at the California semi-pro league. So I used to go train with him when I was 12 years old, okay? And then when I got into school, it wasn't difficult because my dad used to, when I was living in El Salvador, he used to bring me tapes for me to learn English, okay? So when I moved to America, I knew a little bit of English. I went to school, I went to obviously elementary school, and then junior high school. And as I was growing up, the thing that I did miss was, I couldn't play with my friends outside the street. So I used to go after school to a place called Red Shield, which is a program that they have for kids up to school. And they had a soccer field, nice grass soccer field. So I used to go there and do my homework, stay there until my parents came to pick me up. And I played there all afternoon after homework, okay? And that's how I started to adjust to the new life. And then two years later, in those two years, I played with a Mexican club, kids. And then when I turned 14, that same club that used to play, they asked me if I wanted to play with them with the adults now, right? And that's how I started playing with the adults. Was your dad still playing? No, he had retired, right? I was going to say it's like a LeBron, Johnny situation. No, no, he had retired, but the problem was, I was only 14 years old, so the league didn't accept kids that age. We're too young, okay? So I had to forfeit my age in order for me to get registered, because I was playing with adults, okay? And then I played, as I was playing with the adults, I started scoring goals, so they used to pay me. I think it was about $25 per goal. And then the owner of the cloud had a restaurant, so I used to go eat there for free. So I started getting into that and knowing what was going on. And I was playing against semi-pro teams. I mean professional, semi-pro guys, we used to play professional. And that was big for me as I was going up, because it helped me to grow up to play from going from playing with my same age to adults now. And that I think speed up my development as a soccer player. And that's how I got into it. And then afterwards, I was playing high school. And you know, I think they have that, still they have that rule where you cannot play high school and play with another club aside, okay, for three, four months. And I used to play both of them, because the semi-pro used to pay me, so I have my money that I can spend. And I was playing high school. So one day, when we played against the school, I scored seven goals. And the next week, the principal calls me at his office, and he says, oh, he says, I want to ask you something. Are you playing outside high school? And I said, yeah, I'm playing high school outside, because I can make a little bit of money. He says, well, the coach used to call me from the other team. He says, you found out you're registered with this club, and we're going to suspend you, okay? We're going to suspend you. And I think the committee of the league is going to take away our points from high school, because you're playing high school. And I said, okay, the scandal. It was a scandal. And obviously, they took me out of the team with last points. At that time, I was like, there was people from UCLA look at me, you know, for me to go to college and try to play football. That didn't happen anymore, because I couldn't play that year. So what I ended up doing was, after that, I got to it in another club. They offered me to pay me more money to play. So I quit high school, okay, because obviously I wanted to go. And from there, in LA, if you remember, there was the Los Angeles Aztecs, from North American Soccer League, okay? They saw me playing one day, and they asked me, you know, would you like to come and, you know, play for a club in the, in the research team? I was 15 at that time, and then I went, because I wanted to be in a professional environment. I got to meet Johan Kroyf, was playing there. Wimzer beer was playing there. You know, Javier Aguirre, who was the coach from the Mexican team, this World Cup was there. So that's how I left completely my school, and I started dedicating, because we used to train at the Rose Bowl in the morning, so I couldn't go to school anymore. And from there, to be a long story short, I was playing at Daniels Field in San Pedro with Aztecs and agent saw me there. And he told me, how long you side with the Aztecs? I said, you know, I'm going in a year and I have a reserve country, and he said, look, I'm going to take you to Tampa Bay Routes, in the NSL for a trial. You want to go, because if you do, he says, and you do well, they're going to sign you, and they're going to give you a bonus, okay? And I left. I was so crazy. I left the Aztecs, went back, was there for a week? I did well, they offered me the contract, came back, and I told the Aztecs, look, I want to stay in the lake, because I grew up here, would you guys sign me? And they said, well, we can sign you, but we cannot give you a bonus, okay? To sign. And I said, okay, then I am leaving. So I left. Then after that, obviously, I started playing in the NSL against, you know, players like Beck and Bauer and Covias. And I mean, you know, I don't know if you remember, but in the NSL, they had 32 teams. And the NSL at that time was the most important league in the world, because all these foreigners, stars were coming to America to play. So I was able to compete there, and then, out of the woods, somebody from the club told me, look, a US soccer has called us. They want to know if you're interested in becoming a citizen to play for them. I was going to turn 18 with that happen. And I said, yeah, you know, I'm interested. And then from there, it's like, it's history. I led to the workup under 20s in Mexico, 83. And that's how I, you know, I started. You know how people say, well, you're successful as you get to the top, but when you look at the journey you take every part of the journey, I think that's for me is the key. The journey to get there is what you remember most. As we know, after your career, you got into coaching. What was the pull to get into that side of soccer? Was it these guys who helped you see, like how influential a coach can be on a player's life? Yeah, it was. And you know what? That's, uh, it's been a beautiful chapter because when I, I wasn't ever planning to coach, to be honest with you. It was an accident, um, but, uh, when I got back to coaching somehow, I ended up working with the federation at the beginning when the, uh, the federation had the, uh, academy programs. I was a technical advisor in the West Coast, trying to find obviously talent for the federation. And, and, uh, after this sort of years, they asked me if I wanted to be the, uh, the under 14 coach, okay? And, uh, I remember when they asked me that, I said, in my mind, you know what? I really do have a passion for, for, for football. If I coach, I want to, I want to make sure I transmit the, the proper message to the kids who are coming. I mean, you're talking about 13 year old kids, 14 year old kids. And I remember my first camp, uh, and this is a true story of the U.S. hyper. Um, I sent the like a program for the nine day camp that they were going to have, right? And in that program, we had training in the morning, training in the late morning and training in the late afternoon. Apart from the kids having to do school work, video, and all that. It had never had been done at that age, okay? So I said then, the use of, I could say, I don't know, maybe, you know, these kids are too young and I don't think they're going to be able to handle being involved for nine days, uh, in this, all this training and video and all that. Then I said, you know, let me try it, okay? We want to get the best we can, uh, I've time with them, okay? They're coming here to represent our country, okay? We want to make sure we give them the best program we can. So anyway, we came in the first day out. I don't like to you. Um, and, and we had policy, Christian, policy at that time, the first time, Tyler Adams, okay? And some of the guys who kids who played in the World Cup right now. So I said to them, look, he said, you're going to be here nine days. I said, now, what I want you to do is do your best, enjoy it. There's no pressure, okay? None of it, okay? This is your first camp in the national team. But the thing that I want you to do it, I said is, and this is what I want, what I like from you guys. I want you to enjoy your football. So the way you're going to enjoy your football, I said, we're going to play with the ball all the time, okay? And I think the question came up from one of them and say, well, how about defending coach? And this is that message. Look, you defend, not because you lose the ball. You defend because you want to go get it back and play with it, okay? So that's going to be a rule goalkeepers, I said, uh, to the forward, you're going to have to play with the ball. You're going to have to want the ball and every time you play. And the second rule, I said, we're going to play possession, that means I want you to play out of the back. And if you lose the ball ten times, I don't care, okay? You're going to do it. And that was my message, okay? And when I look at that, um, uh, list of players that we had, 20 of those players are playing professional football and some of the best leagues in the world. But my goal came back from the time I was with, with, uh, Johan, Johan used to say, look, the, the hardest play, the hardest thing of football is playing simple in the zones that you have to play simple. But after going forward in the last 30 says, I cannot teach you how to play. It is your creativity. It is your skills. It is your talent that needs to take over games. That was a freedom, you see? And, and, and I think as, as a coach now, obviously I coached the senior, I coached kids. For our kids growing up, girls and boys, if they can hear that from their coaches, when they're growing up, the first camp in the national team, I tell you what, with the talent they have, they can go a long way. Because it's the confidence you give them, you know, you, you probably, because by different coaches and different coaches, like, uh, they, they reach you different ways, but you're always going to remember somebody says, look, I trust you. You can do this. Don't be afraid. I'm backing you up, okay? And they give you all that trust that you don't want to let them down. That's why you, you try hard and you try to do well. I wanted to know, we just watched Christian, Policic, Tyler Adams, Weston McKinney play in this World Cup. What was it like to see them compete on the biggest stage when, you know, you had them as 14-year-olds? Well, I, for me, it's, it's a pleasure to see them where they're at now and how they started, okay? Because, you know, you can have talent, but it doesn't guarantee you're going to get there. Okay? Um, but what they've done, I think, apart from themselves in, in, in, in, in, in representing our country, I, I think what they've done is, and, and the most thing that I really admire from there is not being a comfortable son. They left this country when they were young, okay, and believe me, I, I lived that when I was a little bit older, and it's not easy, especially when you're a young kid, teenager, go into a different country, not being your, your family there and everything, and the pressure of being a foreigner, coming in, being better than the nationals were there. So, you know, you have to applaud that, you have to admire that. And then afterwards, also, I competed against them for times, okay? In the, in the, before the World Cup, in Qatar, they played in the South of the two times all of them were there, they played in here two times, all of them were there. So, I knew very well, okay? But deeply inside, I was, I was, you know, I always admired them because at the end, they ended up what we thought when we picked them, when they were 14 years old, that they were going to do something if they were, take that path and leave them to where they're at now. And also, I think it, it, for me, when you look at those players, they are players right now, and some people agree, some don't. But on the men's side, part of that generation has been at the top at the elite for some time now. I mean, Christian, I think, when they're, you know, the, you know, the Champions League, okay? I mean, you're talking about an American. It sounds crazy 40 years ago thinking that an American player was going through when a, you know, the Champions League. And now, obviously, they've represented our country. So, I think it's, it's great for them, it's great for the family, it's great for our football, it's great for our kids growing up, okay? Because that shows you, and I'm, I'm going to tell you something, I'm a big believer, okay? And people keep saying, you know, women have transcended that level. Women have, our women have won the World Cup, okay? And they have won it with authority, and that's their reality. Obviously, now it has changed because now you have other countries that are coming up and chasing us, okay? Spain, Brazil, France. But women have done that, and they stay there for a long time. We still seeking how to get there, and one day we're in the World Cup. And we do have the talent, to be honest with you, it's just the key, the key is going to be the feature is how we can get them to basically trust, trust and then that level that they have when they come from their European clubs, or any of this. And then put a team that can dominate football, okay? We have the talent. We need to have the person who can put them in there and take the most out of them individually, okay? Because of a football player, and you know that, whether we like it or not, sometimes we are selfish. We want to do well. We want to, you know, play well. We want people to say we play well. And that's good, because it's a motivation inside. But then comes somebody who's intelligent, the coach says, look, you're the best nine, you're the best six, you're the best four, okay? Now I need you to work with all these guys who are better in this places than we can have a great team. And I think when we take that step, we're going to be closer to win the World Cup. Well, you heard it here first on the US soccer podcast. Hugo Perez says, we have the talent. We can get there. We can reach the pinnacle of the mound on the men's side. Thank you so much, Hugo, amazing former player and insightful and thoughtful and passionate coach. A lover of the game. It was such a pleasure having you on this podcast. Thanks again for being here. And I know all of our listeners will be very happy. Before we close, I'm going to ask you something. Good. Yeah. What is it like, because you live this, for the people who are watching us, to win a World Cup? You know, it wasn't as great as I thought it was going to be, because I always thought I would like kind of change my life. And it was my dream that I always wanted to do. But every time I think about soccer, it's the journey in the people and all of the fun that I had that comes to mind first. It's never the winning. For me, there's just something about the game that's so much bigger than points or losses or wins or losses. The success to me is all about joy. And if you get to do that with a really great group of people, like I did, then it's a really, it's even more fun journey. Who's the coach that you admire more? In through all career? Who's the coach that I admire most? I taught you a lot. I would have to say the first person that comes to mind is Anson Dorrance, because he allowed me to be me. When I was growing up, I was fiercely competitive, but was called names because of it. Hour was bullied because of it. And when I went to UNC and I was around like-minded women for the first time in my life, I was actually able to be authentically myself. And he created that culture with the coaching staff and the managers and everybody who was around him. And I will be forever grateful to him for that. And then the other one that comes to mind is one of my youth coaches, Jono Casma, he would be hugely influential because my parents, they never forced any extra training on me. And they always had me ask for it. And I was super lucky because we had the means to pay for it. Because as we know in USA, it is sort of a paid-to-play system. So we found Jono, who played for the Riverhounds, the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, and played semi-professionally. And he would just do one-on-one training with me every single week. And we would go one-on-one against each other. And he would beat me every single time. And then by the end, maybe the week before I was going to college, I finally beat him one-on-one for the very first time and then kept winning and kept doing it. I was like, oh, OK, if I can beat Jono, I'm going to be OK in college. So those two people kind of come to mind for me. And they're just both good humans and good people. I could talk about more. But this interview was about you, Hugo, not me. Thank you. No, because you know what? I wanted to, obviously, you're an important person. You're an important person for what you're represented this country for. OK? I think it's good to know. I mean, obviously, the experience is a little bit different. But I'm always curious about that, you know? Because I think it's important. What you've done with all the women who, obviously, through the years up, done with football for this country. I mean, look at what it is now, football. Let's put it that way on the side of the women. I mean, girls playing all over the country now, all over the world, you know? So you guys have done a great job in doing that. So I congratulate you. And thank you again for having me in your program. Of course. Yeah, I'm so happy to have you. And let's end it here. I do have one little story that I think that you will enjoy. This past weekend, I was in Portland. I told you for the retirement game that the thorns put on for me and the city showed up in force and it was amazing. It was so much fun. I had all of my friends and my family come in. And I have one friend who has three kids. And he and his wife just had two twins. One's a baby girl and one is a baby boy. And they're like super tiny. And then they have a toddler. And he's like three years old. So they came and they went down on the field with us. And they were walking around the field. And then we went back up to the suite. And they had all the food and we're watching the game and having such a good time. And then I got a text from my friend afterwards that night. And he said that his toddler, Ames, his name came up to him and asked him. He said, do you think that Sloan will be a soccer player one day? And it meant the world to me because he was like thinking not for himself, not for his little brother. Thinking that Sloan was going to be the professional women's, like the professional player. And she was the only girl. And I don't think any boys thought that growing up earlier than maybe this time. So it was a really cool, full circle moment. And it feels like all the stuff that we did during our careers really, really mattered. So thanks for asking about me. Thank you so much for being on the show. And thank you for all you do for this game. It has been such a pleasure to have you here with me. Now, I appreciate it. Thank you very much again for taking the time and talking to me. I wish you all the best and keep it going. All right. What an enlightening conversation with Hugo. I mean, it's like sitting down with your grandpa and he has so many stories to tell. I loved just being able to be the person listening to all of that history. Coming straight from the person that lived it. What an episode. Okay. Now it is time for Ask the Pro sponsored by O'Reilly Auto Parts. This is where you can ask me a question. And I'll get back to you and answer it on the show. I've loved the ones that have been coming in. Please keep them coming. So we got a great crop of questions this week. Our first one comes from Dan in New Jersey. And Dan wants to know, Mauricio Puchotino is calling this the start of a fresh four-year cycle for the U.S. men's national team. Now the September roster just dropped. What do you think? Well, Dan, there's a lot to think. I am so excited to see a bunch of fresh faces in this roster. I think everyone's talking about Kevin Sullivan for a reason. A wonder kid from Philadelphia who signed his first pro contract at such a young age. And then when he turns 18, we know where he's going. He's going to Manchester City. Arguably the best club team in the world over the past five years on the men's side. So it is really exciting to see these young fresh faces come in and be able to prove to Mauricio Puchotino why they should be there. So I am really looking forward to seeing him play. I think the other big thing to note is that Christian Policic is not on the roster. And I'm not sure whether that's because he had been working back from an injury or whether Mauricio Puchotino kind of wants to make a point. But it will be fascinating to see how the group functions around a different playmaker, especially because the team had been preparing for this World Cup by putting all of the play through Christian Policic and relying on him to come up with assists and to play make. So seeing a new team of fresh faces and seeing what they got will be really interesting. Our Dan, thank you for that question. I love hearing from you. Keep them coming. Another one we got is from Melissa in New York. So this is a very North East group of questions. So Melissa wants to know we talk a lot about young players breaking into the national teams. What's harder, earning your first call up or proving you belong once you get there? What do you remember about that transition for yourself in arguably? Like you cannot tell me that it is harder to get a call up than to stay at the top of the mountain for an extended period of time. A lot of people can make it to the top of the mountain, but they can't stay up there. And that's what makes the run of a messy or Alex Morgan or Megan Rapinoe just so impressive. And I think that it is still very impressive to make the roster, to be on the team, to get that first call in, going to camp. It's a very exciting time. But it signals potential. It doesn't signal legacy. And there is a huge difference between potential and legacy. And I remember going in thinking, okay, this is amazing. I want to be a part of this. I'm going to learn so much. I'm going to give it all and see what happens, but that doesn't mean that I ever thought the journey was over. Okay. Dan Melissa, thank you so much for your questions. I love hearing from you. Our audience, please send them in. I want to hear from you, hit me with all the good stuff. The more unhinged, the better it is. Now all that being said, if you have a question, and I hope you do have a question for us, the pros, please drop our partners westwood1, a DM on Instagram, at westwood1sports. Put it in. I'll see it. We'll pick one with them. And I'll get back to you on the show. I promise I answer all of the ones that come in eventually. Either way, thank you so much for being here. Thank you to Hugo. What an incredible episode. And make sure you follow us so you never miss one.