‘I’m here to prove it’ - Johnny Cardoso faces defining March camp as he aims to bring Atletico Madrid form to the USMNT

This season, Cardoso’s club form is hard to ignore. After a reported $35 million move from Real Betis, he’s made 13 La Liga appearances and seven more in the Champions League. After dealing with injury issues to begin life in Madrid, he has settled nicely into a role in the heart of Atleti’s midfield.

Since the start of the new year, he's emerged as something of a mainstay, starting big matches against the likes of Tottenham, Real Madrid, and Barcelona. In Atletico Madrid's biggest moments, trust has been put in their first-year American midfielder. He has generally repaid it.

"It was a great move for me," he says. "Since the beginning, I was thinking that I have the capacity to show you all that I have the quality to be there. Before the beginning of the season, it was a little bit hard. I was suffering with some injuries, but the most important thing is that, at the end of the season, I'm feeling fit, feeling well, and I'm ready for anything that we need to fight against."

That word, 'fight', is woven into the Atletico Madrid DNA. Despite all of the resources held by Spain's big two, Barcelona and Real Madrid, Atleti has always found a way to keep pace. They've done so by amassing teams with the right combination of fight and talent. It speaks volumes that manager Diego Simeone signed Cardoso, then, as his addition was a sign that the legendary coach believed that the midfielder possessed enough of both to help the team.

"He's a very intense guy every day, not just in the game," Cardoso says with a laugh when asked about Simeone. "I would say I'm lucky to work with him, and he's making me a better player, I have no doubt. Of course, it's a pleasure. He has a history in football, in soccer, as a player and as a coach, so it's always good to be involved with people who have already made his history."

That's what Cardoso is out to do: make history. Particularly, he's eager to make history with the USMNT. Unfortunately for him, the path so far has been rocky, as, despite his club successes, it's never quite come together for him on the international level.

Of the 23 total caps Cardoso has made for the USMNT, there's one he has to discuss. There's no avoiding it. He has to reflect on the Turkey game.

"It was a hard time," he says. "Everyone lives bad and good moments, so I just turned the page and tried to work as hard and as much as I can to be better, to improve, and to make the teams better as well."

For many, that game was the defining memory of the 24-year-old midfielder. He had been called up to Mauricio Pochettino's Gold Cup squad for a summer that would, hopefully, allow him to salvage the narrative around him. Instead, that narrative grew louder thanks to one bad decision.

With the USMNT up 1-0, Cardoso had possession inside his own box. He messed up. His attempted pass across goal ricocheted off Arda Guler, past Matt Freese, and into the net - a nightmare moment that only amplified the noise around him.

The criticism had already been building, with calls for Cardoso to finally deliver a signature USMNT performance and match his seemingly boundless potential. In that moment, he didn’t - and it wasn’t easy to accept.

"These things happen," he says. "We are here to live it, to forget and to learn from the wrong things that we did and be better."

The mistake itself hurt. What hurt even more was that Cardoso was unable to rectify it. He started the next game against Switzerland, a 4-0 loss. Then, at the Gold Cup, he played a total of 11 minutes as injury issues derailed his summer and, ultimately, his fall. There was no real chance to respond, no chance to change opinions, build confidence, and put in the type of performance he really needed to put in.

That challenge would have to wait until March.

Leading up to the USMNT's match against Belgium, Mauricio Pochettino was asked about Cardoso. His answer indicated that he knew what the narrative was and that he, too, really needed to see the midfielder put the pieces together in a national team shirt.

"You remember the last performance of Johnny on the national team," Pochettino said. "The problem is it's difficult to find fresh memories of him performing in the national team. If I say to you, Gio Reyna, you say, 'Against Paraguay, he scored a goal a few months ago'. That is why we say we need to be careful when we assess the player. That's why this is a great opportunity for Johnny, because he's performing really well in Atletico Madrid.

"It's important that we need players to not only come live the experience, but to be in the squad, to help on the pitch, fighting to try and play. That is the important thing. That is why I hope Johnny has the possibility to show tomorrow and against Portugal to play and perform, to record and build good feelings like he has intended here with the national team. That is really important."

Cardoso was seemingly up for the challenge. Against Belgium, he put in a solid 45-minute shift that was among the most composed he's had in a USMNT shirt. He completed each of his 13 passes, had a fantastic tackle on a Kevin De Bruyne counterattack, and won the ball back several times. He left in a planned substitution at halftime with the USMNT tied 1-1, before all hell broke loose in the second half of a 5-2 loss.

"For me, it was a long time," he said of his USMNT return 24 hours before putting in that performance, "But I always put in my head, in my mind, that I just need to work hard to show you all that I have the level to come back to the national team and to be here and enjoy them with my teammates and be ready for the World Cup as well."

He continued: "It's always a big step to represent a country, so, of course, it is a big team, but the pleasure we have to represent our country is massive. You need to show that on the pitch as well."

There's still more to show, and there are still more questions to answer.

So, even now, with just one game standing between the USMNT and the selection of a World Cup roster, that discussion remains significant. Who is the real Johnny? Is he trustworthy, safe, and steady? Can he be counted on to play at a World Cup and perhaps even start?

It's one of the defining storylines of the USMNT's World Cup preparation. The U.S. has one deep-lying midfielder, Tyler Adams, who has a resume worth counting on. The rest are all seemingly fighting to play alongside him. Tanner Tessmann, Cristian Roldan, Aidan Morris, and Sebastian Berhalter are all in the mix. Yunus Musah is among those watching from afar, hoping for a chance.And then there's Cardoso, a player with the potential to be a real game-changer, for better or worse, at the World Cup.

Cardoso believes things will be different going forward because he himself is different. He's no longer the player who first arrived at USMNT camp in 2020 with limited English and plenty to be nervous about. He's had talks with Pochettino about how he can help the team. He's willing and able to do whatever it takes.

"I'm able to play in any position in the middle," he says. "I'm here to help the team, so even if he needs me playing as a forward, I'm ready!"

Cardoso feels more ready for the moment than ever before, and the fact that he's even talking about that is a pretty good indication that he might just be right.

"I'm such a different person right now," he says. "I'm here to learn with the guys every day, so it's important for me to live these weeks, these camps with the guys and to be able to share my experience as well. I share my - I don't know - my moments and my life, and I learn the same things. Learning, hearing them, makes me a better person.

"I'm a shy guy. I don't talk too much, even in Portuguese or Spanish or English, so I'm feeling very good to be here and doing this interview."

The talks end, Cardoso shakes hands and walks off with a smile on his face. That's one challenge down, but the biggest ones are coming soon.