The conversation with BJ Callaghan would have to wait. Arriola was getting married the next day.
The timing, though, was opportune. his marriage With Akela Banuelos at an ocean view vista in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, a new journey would begin, and now here the national team was offering a new beginning.
“A lot of situations that we go through, we don’t have a chance to dictate how they go, do we?” Arriola said Tuesday. “I didn’t have control over whether I was going to be in the squad for the World Cup, but I had control over how I wanted to react.
“As a married man now, when I hope to have kids one day. I want them to be able to look at their dad and say his dream was a failure and he chose to stand up and respond and still be a part of the program and still willing to continue playing.
Arriola accepted the invitation MLS – heavy campFirst after the United States On 3 December, they lost to the Netherlands in the round of 16 of the World Cup. He is one of 24 players preparing for friendlies against Serbia in Los Angeles and Colombia on Saturday in Carson – but the only one to experience the heartbreak of Berhalter’s World Cup roster decisions.
Five participants were in the queue here, but none of the others were in serious consideration last fall.
“The coaches told me that they completely understand if I don’t want to come in and be a part of it, which is the reaction of all the players at the beginning,” Arriola said. “The past few weeks [before deciding], I got to the point of accepting that I didn’t make the World Cup team. And I don’t want to let that hold me back. “
Arriola said, though, that he might have felt differently about what Berhalter asked. Berhalter’s contract expired on December 31. On top of that, the US Soccer Federation is investigating as it continues to evaluate his – and the team’s – performance during his four-year tenure and whether to offer a new contract. Kicking his future wife in 1991.
Berhalter’s rift with the family of striker Gio Reyna has added a second unpleasant layer to the uncertainty of the program’s direction.
“If it had been Greg calling me, it would have been harder for me to think about going back,” Arriola said. Because of the relationships he’s built with staff and players over the years, he added, “there was definitely less hesitation.”
Arriola explained that Berhalter did not make his World Cup squad. five days Before the 26-man roster was announcedThe home team just finished camp in Frisco, Tex. It was Saturday. The players, Arriola said, were told they would learn their roster fates Sunday.
From the domestic camp, Arriola was the only serious contender who had been cut – the rest were with European clubs – so Berhalter decided to tell Arriola in person a day earlier.
Arriola didn’t expect to hear one way or the other. She was grumpy. He said he told Berhalter: “I respect you as a coach. I respect you as a person, and I respect your decision. I disagree with your decision. I think it’s a mistake.”
Arriola looks set to lose out to Seattle Sounders attacker Jordan Morris, who plays two games late in the World Cup.
Arriola watched the tournament with family in California, then began planning his wedding and the start of the MLS preseason. All the while, he said, he can’t help but think about the future of his national team.
Two things influenced his decision to continue, Arriola said. There was one An article on athletics In which midfielder Sacha Kljestan described his career as “10 times better” after being named in the 2014 US World Cup squad. Kljestan returned to the team and scored twice in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers before a late fall capped a 17-year pro career.
A second influential element came from her mother-in-law’s doctor. During an appointment, the doctor asked if Arriola would continue to play for the national team. She said she didn’t know.
She relayed the doctor’s message to her son-in-law: “He has to carry on. He has to do it for you, for everyone who loves and supports him and for everyone who thinks he should have been at the World Cup. He can’t let it break him.”
Arriola also spoke regularly with one of his closest friends, Russell Canous of DC United.
“He was deeply saddened and depressed and had a hard time coping,” Canous said. “The fact that he is in camp now shows his personality and character.”
Current staff Arriola — and World Cup players Walker Zimmerman, Sean Johnson, Jesus Ferreira and Kellyn Acosta — return to provide guidance to a group that includes 12 players age 23 and under. On this roster, Arriola’s 48 caps are second only to Acosta’s 55 and his 10 goals are the most.
Unlike the five World Cup players here, “it’s a tough scenario [for Arriola] Because I can’t imagine what happened to him not playing in the World Cup for so long,” said Anthony Hudson, the World Cup assistant in charge of the camp. “We questioned what he wanted or how he was feeling, but his response was as you would expect from such a good person and good character.”
Areola, who turns 28 on Feb. 5, admits he may not have a long-term future with the U.S. team. The next World Cup is now 3 and a half years away.
“I understand this is a transitional period between the World Cups,” he said. “For me, it was more about living in the moment, it’s a statement for me and for the people around me and play for them – enjoy this experience now.”
