'I'm still here' - How USMNT star Tim Ream fought off Father Time and defied his own expectations to earn one more World Cup chance

As the USMNT’s players walked through the mixed zone at Khalifa International Stadium, few were truly able to reflect on what had happened and what it meant. They had just lost to the Netherlands, ending their 2022 World Cup run with a 3-1 defeat. Memphis Depay strolled through with a blaring boombox to soundtrack the Dutch celebrations. Meanwhile, one USMNT player after another made their way toward the exit, fighting back tears. Emotions were high, and few could properly articulate what would come next.

Ream could, though. That was because he believed that, no matter what came next, it would not involve him.

“Obviously, a lot of these guys are guaranteed another World Cup and for me, that's not gonna happen,” he said on that December night in Qatar. “What we're trying to convey is to treat each and every training session as if it were their last, each and every game as if it were their last.”

It was not Ream’s last, of course. He has played in 30 national team matches since then. Considering that Ream has 80 caps to his name, it is fair to say his most impactful USMNT run has come over the last few years, the period after many were more than ready to retire him.

By being selected for this summer’s roster, the 38-year-old defender became the oldest outfield player named to a USMNT World Cup squad, surpassing Fernando Clavijo’s previous mark by more than a year. That fact would probably surprise the Ream who walked through that mixed zone in Qatar. The funny part, though, is that it does not surprise him nearly as much now.

“I think it is just about putting in the work,” he said. “Did I expect to be sitting here at 38 on the cusp of going to my second World Cup? No. Was it a goal after the last World Cup? Yeah, of course. I also know that there are things that happened, and realistically, you don't get an opportunity at 38 very often unless you put in the work and do the everyday things, the hard things, to get there.”

Those hard things are largely done in the shadows. They happen when Ream shows up hours before training to make sure his body is ready for sessions that once felt far more routine. They happen at home through regular recovery sessions that now feel more important than ever. They happen in film rooms alongside coaches who help Ream ensure his mind works faster than his legs these days. They also happened during a recent injury scare, one that briefly left many wondering whether Ream had lost it all at the last second.

At this point, Ream said, he knows his body better than most and believes it is ready.

“Listen, I'm 38, so I know what I'm feeling at this point,” he said. “I know the difference between a serious problem and something that's only going to keep me out for a few days to a week's time. Knowing that difference has been quite calming, to be honest with you.”

The process of making a World Cup is not any easier at 38 than it was at 35, that is for sure. The outside world has loved reminding Ream of that fact for the last three years.

Ream has played alongside six different center back partners since the 2022 World Cup. Four of those six are on this roster, and none are older than 30. Even as that new generation of center backs has emerged, Ream has remained part of the group, both as an elder statesman and, more importantly, as part of the competition.

Some would say the reason Ream is still involved is that no one has risen to the challenge of taking his job. Others would say that is because Ream ensured he was good enough not to lose it. Some say it was time to move on long ago for the sake of the next generation. Others point out that the USMNT have not because Ream has made it impossible to do so. Some praise him for his presence. Others, like former USMNT striker Herculez Gomez, label him a “liability” because of the miles on his legs.

Everyone has something to say, though. Ream has heard it all at this point.

“I don't really give a sh*t what people say, pardon my language,” he said, “but people have said I shouldn't be here before I was even here. People have said I shouldn't be here before I even made it out of high school. People are going to speak, people have opinions, and there's a lot of them, and there's a lot of loud opinions, and at the end of the day, I'm the one sitting here.

“It's not down to them; it's down to the work that I put in, but also it's down to what you do in the moments that people aren't watching. It's down to what you do in front of the people that do matter, the people that do make the decisions, the people that are making the choices and have the opinions that affect your trajectory and your career.”

He added: “When people bring it up to me, I'm like, ‘That's great.’ If they want their opinions to matter, then they can start getting into coaching. That's whose opinions matter.”

Ream has clearly impressed the USMNT’s coaches. Like Gregg Berhalter before him, Mauricio Pochettino has leaned heavily on Ream, not just as a leader but as a player, too. Ream has captained the USMNT in 16 of Pochettino’s 23 matches in charge. There is a chance he could wear the armband this summer, too, at the biggest tournament in American soccer history.

“The experience Tim has got from playing for the United States for so many years, he's earned his spot in that team over the years because of how well he does his craft,” said Dean Smith, Ream’s coach at club level with Charlotte FC. “He's a really good footballer. He understands the game. He's really good on the ball. He organizes people. He leads people.”

That sentiment is echoed by his teammates. They, too, are quick to point out the variety of qualities Ream brings to a team.

“When I think of Tim, I think of poise, I think of leadership, I think of control in every aspect,” 2022 and 2026 World Cup teammate Cristian Roldan said in the fall. “He brings a different aura to the team and he creates a really good environment, a really welcoming environment for a lot of guys. That’s the type of leader that we need.”

Ream and Roldan are two of 13 returnees from the 2022 World Cup. Ream’s road to this tournament has been wildly different, though. Surprisingly, there was no previous experience to lean on, and nothing really could have prepared him for his path to this summer.

Last time around, Ream’s World Cup call left him stunned. He had not played for the USMNT in more than a year. Then, just before the World Cup, Ream received the call from Berhalter. Part of the reaction, of course, was joy. The other part was fear.

“There are just so many thoughts, and I think that's the issue,” he told GOAL last year. “There are so many thoughts that just run through your head all of a sudden. And suddenly it's on top of you. You're thinking about scenarios before they even happen. It's not that I felt like I couldn't do it or that I wasn't good enough. It's just that I had been so set on not going because I had been left out for over a year.

“When that call came, everything just felt like it was nothing. My brain was frazzled. I went to bed that night and I don't think I actually slept. It felt like a culmination of everything that I'd learned, and it wasn't fully excitement.”

It soon turned into excitement, of course. The 2022 World Cup remains one of Ream’s fondest memories, and he has had plenty of them. Playing at a World Cup is a different type of opportunity, though, and it is one he cherishes, which is why he worked so hard to earn that opportunity again.

This time around, though, he has learned about some of the other sides of that opportunity. In 2022, Ream arrived at the final moment to join the World Cup squad. That meant there were no side quests along the way. There were no photo shoots, commercials or major interviews. No one expected Ream to be there because Ream himself did not expect to be there. Because of that, the buildup to the World Cup was quiet until it suddenly was not.

That has not been the case this time. The road to 2026 has been loud, and Ream, as the most experienced member of this group, has been at the center of the attention while anxiously awaiting this cycle’s call from Pochettino, which ultimately came.

“I've never done so much media and commercial work,” he said. “I think I've done at least two a day for the past three weeks, morning and afternoon. Days off have not been days off, so that's been very different for me. The last one, I was called four days before and [Gregg] said, ‘Hey, surprise!’ so I didn't have any of the buildup. I had none of the nerves, none of the expectations, none of the anxiety, and it was just, ‘Hey, we need you to be there,’ and away we went.

“This buildup has been agonizingly slow, and then there are all the extras that get thrown your way because it's a World Cup. That makes it a little bit different, but for me, also being here in the U.S., we're hosting this one. I didn't know all the media attention, interviews and extras that came with it over here because I was in England at the time, so I missed out on all of that. It creates this aura and hype around the tournament, which I did not experience the last time.”

Now in camp, Ream’s job is to bring calm to the USMNT during a summer that will be anything but calm because of all that hype.

The summer truly began on Tuesday. In front of a crowd in New York, the USMNT squad was unveiled, officially kick-starting the World Cup buildup. Players traveled to Atlanta that night and were on the field Wednesday morning. If it did not feel real before, reality has surely set in.

With that reality comes pressure, though. There is no mistaking what is at stake for the USMNT this summer. This is a team, a program and a country still fighting for respect, legitimacy and attention. They can earn that this summer. Any World Cup run turns heads. A run on home soil changes lives.

Ream probably understands that better than anyone on the team. He is the only member of the 26-player squad born before the start of the 1994 World Cup, the last tournament hosted on American soil. That summer, the USMNT introduced America to soccer. This summer, the aim is to introduce American soccer to the world. In many ways, 2022 was a warmup. This is the summer that the next phase of the American game will be defined.

“We understand that the expectations are higher,” Ream said, “but the pressure? It doesn't and it shouldn't change if we're doing the right things. If we're focused, if we're connected, we're performing, the pressure is not any different than any other World Cup just because you're hosting. I think that's the message that we need to convey.

“At the same time, you can reframe it. Why not embrace the pressure? Why not? Why not understand that there are so many people who would love to be in our position and would love to be in our shoes and be a part of this group? We have to embrace that and have to understand that. I've always said pressure is a privilege. There's a reason we feel that pressure. It's because we are a group of players who are at the top and the pinnacle of the sport in our country. Yeah, we need to embrace that.”

At 38, Ream is still at that pinnacle. Against all odds, that pressure remains a privilege but, after this tournament, there will be nothing left for Ream to give the USMNT. He will look back on things as a two-time World Cup veteran. Who could have seen that coming?

“If it all finished and their career was done with,” Ream said back in 2022, “would they be happy with it? I can honestly say, if that is the case for me, yes. I've given it everything.”

This will no doubt be Ream’s last World Cup, his final major moment representing his country at the highest level. He has, in fact, given it all, and the tank will be empty. There is one more tournament left at this level. After that, it will finally be time. Then again, that is what everyone said last time.

Father Time is coming, and it has gotten closer since the last time everyone wrote Ream off, including the defender himself. Maybe it is worth rephrasing that much-discussed question.

Maybe instead of asking how much longer Ream can hold off time, we should ask what time can do to finally catch up to him. Maybe the real question is what Ream will do with the time he has left in that USMNT shirt before he rides off into the sunset for real this time.