Two minutes and 30 seconds. That’s all it took for Delco-grown Auston Trusty, a 27-year-old defender for Team USA, to score a goal in Thursday night’s World Cup game. It was the first goal of the night, the second-fastest goal ever scored by the United States in a FIFA World Cup game — and Trusty’s first international career goal.
His joy was unbridled — and contagious — as he leapt into a pile of his teammates celebrating the point, yes, but also celebrating the team and Trusty once again exceeding expectations. Could there be anything more Philly?
Trusty, who plays center back, hails from Media, and his Philly-area roots are apparent. You can see glimmers of his classic Philly grit in his playing style — a nod to local legend and Trusty’s athletic hero, Allen Iverson. It’s reflected in his “an underdog is a hungry dog” attitude and his mantra: “why not me?”
Trusty has been playing soccer since he was three years old, including at Nether United Soccer Club in Wallingford while attending Penncrest High School. Alongside Matt Freese, Mark McKenzie and Brenden Aaronson, he is one of four Team USA players who came out of a youth development program called the Philadelphia Union Academy. (He’s the first player out of the program to score a World Cup goal.)
For Trusty, the embers of this moment were ignited over two decades ago in his bedroom in Media, where he would lie awake and daydream of moments like this. “Every single experience I’ve had, every game I’ve been in, all the craziest moments I’ve been in, I swear I had dreamed it,” he says.
We checked in with Trusty right before the big game to talk about how he got there, what it’s been like — and how we can carry the World Cup joy with us after the festivities conclude.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
First things first, some table-setting: Are we calling it soccer or football?
Either/or, it depends. I change depending on the listener, but I like to say football.
Football it is! So you started playing football when you were around three years old. Take me back to those early years in Media. When did you first fall in love with the sport?
I’m the youngest of six kids. All my siblings took their sports very seriously. I went to all of their games. How I fell in love with the game was through my sister, Onnie. She was on the United States women’s youth national team growing up. She traveled all around the world, had all these opportunities. I was just so amazed by the opportunities that it gave her.
Along with that, being the youngest of six kids, I had no choice but to go to every single game. I remember being a ball boy on the sideline, just amazed at how Onnie played.
The other sports I grew up playing with my siblings really helped me grow mentally as well. Even how I play defense nowadays is like a basketball player. My stance, how I approach it, how I read certain movements — it all comes from basketball. It’s all an accumulation of all my siblings and what I could pick and choose from all their attributes. That’s the benefit of being the youngest. You get to pick and choose, see all the highs and all the lows, and really get a chance to find your path.
When I was a little kid, I used to sit in my bed, and just daydream. What was the stadium like? What did it smell like? What did it taste like?
You played football, basketball, and baseball growing up. What made you pick football?
I grew up in Media. The neighborhood I grew up in was the perfect group of neighborhood kids where they all went to play sports. It was my dream. We played every single sport you can possibly do. But the one thing that they didn’t believe in was playing soccer. We played lacrosse, we played mini sticks, we played street hockey, kickball — you name it. If I mentioned wanting to play soccer, they would say no. I would bargain with my brother. I played 30 minutes of the sport he wanted and he played 30 minutes of soccer with me. It was a little bit out of the norm with my friend group but I had my own self-interest I wanted to pursue.
What really helped me with training was training with my brother, Ethan, who is two years older. I played two years up and I learned how to move as an undersized youth kid with guys who are older, which is a big deal when you’re a youth player. I had to think differently, I had to think faster, I had to be better physically and use my body to find ways to adapt to a group that was two years ahead of me.
So being from Media, I assume you’re a Philly sports fan?
One-thousand percent. My favorite athlete is Allen Iverson. I try to bring his swagger to how I play football. I keep Philly inside of me — I have that Philly pride.
“When everything packs up and people move on with their life, I hope they can take from the World Cup how beautiful people are, how beautiful are our different cultures, different ethnicities, different races and different religions. We’re all people of this earth.” — Auston Trusty
You’re coming off of a championship win with your Scottish Premiership team the Celtic. How does it feel to jump into the World Cup as a champion?
Celtic is one of the most historic and well-known teams around the entire globe. So playing for a club like that requires a different kind of mindset. Each one of my games, we have over 60,000 fans in the stadium. I’m in that every single week, multiple times a week. And it’s an environment where it’s only a winning mentality. Losing is not accepted whatsoever. So that shift in your mind really helps you adapt. It’s sink or swim. If you can swim, your mindset just goes through the roof. I won two trophies last year with them, but this year was a more historic win. We faced a lot of trials and tribulations and ended up winning on the last day. It was like a storybook ending.
So with the pressure of an entire country and millions of people around the world watching and rooting for you, you want to come out on top. It only makes you better prepared for a similar situation coming into the World Cup. I’m really happy I got to experience that kind of real pressure going into this because to be able to truly lock in for multiple games over a long stretch is very hard.
You are aware about Philly’s chronic underdog mentality when it comes to sports. We seem to thrive in those conditions. Your Celtic’s were a bit of an underdog going into the championship. Can you speak to where you find power in that?
I’ve kept that Philly mentality my entire life. This is why I appreciate so much growing up in Philadelphia, seeing the sports teams and being a fan of anything Philadelphia. My entire career, I’ve kept that mindset of: Why not me? Why not us? Going through the ranks at the Philadelphia Union Academy to becoming a professional, there’s so many times where you’re not the one or you’re at the bottom of the pack and you kind of have to have that mindset of why not me?
When the academy was coming together, I remember the coaches said, one of you guys — there were around 100 of us — is going to turn pro. That’s realistic. I remember looking around at the room thinking: Who could it be? Then thinking, you know what? Why not me? To them, I was at the bottom of the totem pole. And slowly but surely, after a couple of years, I was the first one. It was me. I created the pathway.
When I decided to turn pro, I turned down a full ride at University of North Carolina. At that time, going to college for soccer was the move. You didn’t sign pro because the pathway wasn’t created. No one knew what was going to happen, but I had that “why not me” mindset. Why can’t I create a pathway? Why can’t I achieve my dreams? Because maybe I could end up in Major League Soccer, maybe I could go overseas, maybe I could be in the World Cup team. I chose to back myself and my ability. I’m very happy I did.
The United States team in the World Cup is off to a great start, leading their group. How does it feel to wear the crest?
It means the world. Throughout your career, all the decisions we make as players are geared to putting us in the position of representing our country on the biggest level, which is the World Cup. Wearing the crest, wearing the badge of the USA flag, it means everything because you’re representing not just yourself, not just your teammates, you’re representing the entire country of millions of people and millions of kids who would die to be in your position.
It’s a heavy weight to bear, but it’s such an honor to have. I’m just trying to be grateful to be able to showcase my skills and hopefully inspire the next generation of kids. That’s what it’s all about. Obviously, you want a personal game, you want a team game, and you want to do really well. But at the end of the day, it’s only about inspiring the next generation of kids.
Wearing the crest, wearing the badge of the USA flag, it means everything because you’re representing not just yourself, not just your teammates, you’re representing the entire country of millions of people and millions of kids who would die to be in your position.
World Cup fans are notorious for being rowdy and enthusiastic about their teams. In your experience how does that compare to notoriously wild Philadelphia fans?
The reason they’re very similar is because they all truly, genuinely care about their team and almost to a point where it’s their personality. When someone asks your name. You don’t say: I’m John. You say: I’m John, I’m an Eagles fan. I’m a Sixers fan. We feel like we’re part of the team.
That’s a similarity between the fans just because whatever team you’re on, wherever you are in the country, wherever you are in the world, if you have a team that is truly your team — it’s blood, sweat, and tears no matter what. The intensity and loyalty to the teams — that’s very similar.
FIFA coming to Philly has caused our city to have insight into a sport that has long been much more popular elsewhere — and the joy is palpable throughout the city. How can Philly keep the spirit of the World Cup alive once everyone packs their bags and leaves?
Be grateful for this opportunity. To have a World Cup in your home country is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Be grateful that it’s on your doorstep and you can experience with people who are like-minded or interested as well. The World Cup in America is going to grow the game, but it’s also growing the mindset that there’s so many different people from different walks of life who are interested in the same sport, same thing. Football is called the “beautiful game” because it brings so many people together.
When everything packs up and people move on with their life, I hope they can take from the World Cup how beautiful people are, how beautiful are our different cultures, different ethnicities, different races and different religions. We’re all people of this earth. Sometimes you need a spectacle like the World Cup to really realize how beautiful it all is. Just because they speak a different language, they look different than me or pray to a different God doesn’t mean that we’re all not the same. We’re all cheering for the same team and in love in the beautiful game.
Especially Philadelphia — a city with people from all walks of life. Philadelphia is just a gigantic mixture of different types of people coming together. It’s a Philly thing — everyone’s welcome and we are all one at the end of the day.
Speaking of FIFA wrapping up, what’s next for you?
I’m going to take my wife and daughter on a nice vacation to relax and soak it all. It’s hard to take it all in when you’re in the World Cup because you’re so focused the entire time. Hopefully a vacation where I can sit back, and come to the realization that, “Oh my gosh, I just played in the World Cup and my dream is complete.”
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