'It's personal' - Tim Ream explains strong emotions ahead of USMNT's first visit to Trinidad & Tobago since 2018 World Cup failure

The USMNT's last visit to T&T came all the way back in 2017, and it remains the darkest day in the program's history. Needing a result to clinch a spot in the 2018 World Cup, the U.S. fell 2-1 and, combined with results across CONCACAF, failed to qualify for that next summer's tournament as a result.

That loss led to a total rebuilding of the program, with almost all of the players in the current squad coming in after that defeat. 36-year-old defender Ream, though, has been around for several cycles and he says that there's still some emotion that comes with playing T&T.

The U.S. has faced Trinidad & Tobago multiple times since that day and have gone unbeaten against the Soca Warriors in the six years since.

The two sides have faced off four times since, with the U.S. winning by an aggregate scoreline of 22-0 over those four games. In total, the U.S. is 22-4-4 against T&T, but one loss still looms over the program all these years later.

"I think for everybody, it's personal, when they move on, when they move past it," Ream said. "I think for for me it was, I'd say, 2019 Gold Cup, I believe. We played, if I recall correctly and that was kind of the moment for me and then I think as a whole, as a squad, I'd definitely say it was going into into the World Cup last year. Obviously the guys qualify for that and put the wrongs of the past on a better path.

"Again, it's personal for everyone but yeah, for me, it was definitely the Trinidad game, playing them in the Gold Cup. I know it's not the same. This is the first time we've been back and some may feel that this will be the moment but yeah, I think, like I said for me, it was it was back in 2019."

Up next for the USMNT is the match on Monday, which comes after a lopsided win in Austin this past Thursday.

The U.S. defeated T&T, 3-0, in the first leg with Ricardo Pepi, Antonee Robinson and Gio Reyna scoring the goals. Should the U.S. hold on in this second leg, the team would book a spot in next summer's Copa America.