Matt Freese hates his phone.
The NYCFC and USWNT goalie was the talk of U.S. soccer when he saved three penalties in a shootout against Costa Rica in the Gold Cup quarterfinal. To say that he didn't care would be inaccurate. But he stayed away from the hype that followed him around in online spheres.
"I just hate technology, dude. I stay off my phone as much as possible," he tells GOAL.
Seems a bit much? That's just who Freese is. The shot-stopper has always been a bit of a technophobe, a soccer nerd who did a research project at Harvard about the psychology of saving penalties. There are a bunch of athletes who are simply hyper-focused on their craft, the kind of guys who at their most comfortable just talking about soccer.
Freese is of that ilk. You kind of have to be as a goalkeeper, he says. It has certainly helped NYCFC. The Piegons have been rather up and down this season, and find themselves in seventh in the Eastern Conference, struggling for consistency in their first season under head coach Pascal Jansen.
"We beat Cincy, beat Philly, and then drop points elsewhere totally unnecessarily," Freese says. "It's something that we've dealt with, I'd say, for the last year and a half, and it's something that needs to change. It will change."
Are they a playoff team? Certainly. But they are hunting for more, and Freese will be central to that effort - even if he is the last line of defense, and not the main guy in attack for the side that has currently scored the fewest goals of any team in a playoff spot. Still, they have a new designated player, Nico Fernandez, in the fray, and their performances have certainly improved of late. With Freese between the sticks to back it all up, that might be enough.
And on the USMNT front, Freese started all six Gold Cup matches ahead of incumbent Matt Turner, and is locked in a positional battle with several contenders looking to be the starter in the 2026 World Cup.
Freese talked about the USMNT, NYCFC and finding consistency in the latest GOAL Convo, a Q&A with central figures in the American soccer scene.
NOTE: This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
