For the last several years, the new generation of U.S. men's national team stars has been united by two separate, but similar, rallying cries. The first defined their road to the 2022 World Cup. It called on the players involved to change the way the world views American soccer, not just for one tournament, but forever.
That one is still a work in progress. Their efforts in Qatar were definitely admirable and players' progress on the club level has definitely made the rest of the world take notice, but Rome wasn't built in a day. It will take sustained, consistent improvement to accomplish that goal.
Since the summer, though, the U.S. has been discussing a new goal: to change the way that America views soccer forever.
Assistant coach B.J. Callaghan says the team won't be satisfied until there are loads of Christians, Westons, Gios and Matts born and named for the country's soccer idols. The team, as a whole, has said they won't have achieved anything until they've proven they can be more than what they showed in Qatar.
But how can they do that? How does a team approach goals so lofty and so vague? Well, it starts by winning big games against big opponents, making statement after statement until everyone takes notice.
The U.S. won't demand the respect of the world if they are to beat Germany in a friendly on Saturday. Still, for many in this USMNT camp, Saturday's friendly is the perfect time to show how far they've come, and how far they have left to go.