Walker Zimmerman has been a staple of the USMNT for half a decade now. The Nashville SC man has formed a reliable centre back partnership with Aaron Long.
In a recent interview, Walker Zimmerman revealed his expectations leading into the tournament. He hopes to form a chemistry and build momentum with his teammates.
“None of us have a lot of World Cup experience. People can hit on us for that or think that that is a disadvantage,” the defender told reporters in a media availability. “But I also know how eager we are to get out there and prove to people what we have in this group.”
“In terms of the center backs, Aaron and I have had a decent amount of games together in the past. And it’s another opportunity, these two games, to get reps in – and that’s in training and in the games.
“I remember earlier on in these past couple of years, talks with both Matt and Zack. About when we’re defending crosses. And I think the word was like ‘narrow’ or ‘left’ or whatever, I’m like, well, sometimes we’re facing different directions, give us a clear thing. And so we sorted out the language that we wanted to use in a specific situation: ‘to me, to me,’ was ultimately clear.
“These are two more games to get valuable experience to prepare for the teams. And the types of players you might find in the World Cup. So we’re controlling what we can control.
“We can’t control the opponent. But there’s certainly ways that we can improve, whether it’s Concacaf or European friendlies. So we’re looking at these two games, certainly as building blocks to play against some really good competition and make sure that we’re fine-tuning what we need to heading into November.”
