One Mo Thing: Inside the drama of making the U.S. World Cup roster

In A Mo Thing with Maurice Edu, the former United States national team midfielder takes you into the mind of a World Cup player.

The most nervous day of my sporting life was May 26, 2010. That was the day I found out I was going to be on the United States’ roster for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

It was the culmination of a lifelong journey, as well as a massive comeback. I had joined Rangers Football Club in the Scottish Premier League, suffered a massive knee injury and returned to claim my place on Bob Bradley’s 23-man squad.

The process this year for Team USA was a little different than the 2010 World Cup. My last game with the Rangers that year was on May 9th. Then, 30 players were called to a training camp in Tampa before a friendly match against Czechia (then known as the Czech Republic). The day after this match, seven players were eliminated to reach the squad of 23 players.

This year, squads were established before the last day of the club season.

This is the story of how I got selected for the World Cup and how I found out.

The journey

I broke into the national team in late 2007, making three appearances in the World Cup qualifiers. The following August I moved to Rangers.

Then, at the end of my first season at Glasgow in May 2009, I suffered a knee injury which caused me to miss around seven months. This meant I was not involved in the Confederations Cup that summer, which featured the winners of the six continental championships, the reigning World Cup champion and the host nation. The tournament was held in South Africa as it was to host the 2010 World Cup.

Famously, the United States beat reigning European champions Spain in the semifinals in Bloemfontein. The team also had a 2–0 lead over Brazil in the final before three consecutive goals allowed the Brazilians to win the tournament.

Clint Dempsey celebrates his goal against Spain in the United States’ surprise victory at the 2009 Confederations Cup. (Getty Images)

Watching from home, I had so many mixed emotions. Part of me jumped out of my seat every moment, every goal, excited for my teammates and friends. I was on the phone with these guys from South Africa, living every moment vicariously through them.

The other part of me has serious “FOMO”. This brotherhood, this camaraderie and this pride, I missed all of that.

Before the Confederations Cup, I felt really good about my position within the team. I felt like I would have played a big role in this tournament if it wasn’t for my injury. So I felt like I had to start again.

The return

But I used this summer as motivation. Once I was healthy, the next chance I would have with the national team was the series of friendlies at the end of February and March 2010. I knew I had to do everything in my power to make sure I was in that March camp.

I knew these games and this training camp were going to be important. This was the last chance for Bob Bradley and his coaching staff to observe us in detail before the end of the club season.

The match I played in was on March 3 in Amsterdam, when we lost 2-1 to the Netherlands. I came on at half-time for Jose Torres and had 45 minutes in midfield next to Michael Bradley, which is what we were all competing for.

In that friendly match against the Czechs, I played the full 90 minutes in a 4-2 defeat and scored my only goal for the national team. At this point I couldn’t do anything else and felt good about my position.

Maurice Edu celebrates his goal against the Czechs in a friendly match before the 2010 World Cup. (Getty Images)

However, I had missed a lot of time and some important matches between the Confederations Cup and the matches in autumn 2009. The advantage of playing in a tournament like that is that you get a series of matches. This is a chance to establish yourself and strengthen your value to the team over multiple matches. Although friendlies and qualifiers in the middle of the club season are important, I have always felt that a tournament is valuable because it leads to a series of even more important and tense matches and knockout matches.

When I finally returned to the national team camp in the spring of 2010, I knew it was time to get to work. I had to put my head down and deliver.

The decision

The day after this friendly match was the most tense day. No more chance of making a good impression. The coaches have all the information they’re going to get.

I was confident that I would be on the plane to South Africa, but that didn’t necessarily ease my nerves.

The day after that friendly match against the Czechs, we were all in our hotel rooms and I received a call on my room phone. They told me to go to a specific room downstairs. There you go, no other information was given to me. There was no indication that I would receive positive or negative news upon my arrival.

This led to the longest march ever.

I just wanted to get to this room. I don’t like having to wait. Either way, I needed to know the answer.

I knew I had done everything I could to defend my spot on the roster, but I was also prepared for whatever was to come. There was nothing more I could do at this point.

I come into the room and there are a few guys in there. We all think, “Well, what’s going on?

From there, more and more guys start coming, and even more after them. You begin to realize that you have succeeded. Then other people started coming in and I was like, “Hey, wait a minute. I’m in the same room as this person. I’m in good company.” It was a huge moment of relief.

Striker Edson Buddle (left) and Maurice Edu train during preparation for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. (Getty Images)

After the team meeting to put together the roster, we immediately had the feeling that we wanted to talk to our brothers and teammates who weren’t going to be on the plane. Even though they weren’t going to make the 23-man team, they were an integral part of this team and this brotherhood that got us to this point.

Making this list was the culmination of so many years of work to achieve this goal. When I realized it had finally happened, it was a moment I will never forget.

From there, the coaches come in and say a few words like, “This is going to be a quick turnaround,” because a few days later we aired the roster on TV, and then there was a lot more to do, including a trip to the White House.

Then we had to come back. We had a tournament to play. And what a tournament it was.