There's nothing particularly American about the city of Eindhoven. With a population of just under 250,000, it's the fifth-largest city in the Netherlands but, by American standards, it's a relatively small town. It's a city with a large student population and, in some ways, has a culture reminiscent of an American college town.
It happened somewhat suddenly, and not necessarily by design, but Eindhoven also now finds itself at the center of an American soccer revolution.
PSV, the Eredivisie's reigning powerhouse and a legitimate Champions League team, features four U.S. men's national team players. All arrived with different cirumstances and ambitions. All have now become important pieces for a team that has legit hopes to go toe-to-toe with the world's best.
And so the eyes of American soccer are on that smallish-big city in the Netherlands, a city that has rapidly become an epicenter of the American game in Europe.
Ricardo Pepi is the player leading the charge, at least at the moment. He's enjoying his breakout season, one that ensures he likely won't be in Eindhoven for long. He's joined by last season's breakout star, Malik Tillman. Both have scored double-digit goals already this season. Both could someday leave PSV for record-breaking hauls if they keep playing the way they have since they arrived.
They're joined at the club by Sergino Dest and Richy Ledezma, two other players with their own stories to tell. Dest is a 2022 World Cup starter and a USMNT star. He's had his share of setbacks, but none quite as big as the ACL injury that leveled him in 2024. He's on the comeback trail, and he's nearly back. In the interim, Ledezma has suddenly become his unlikely replacement, an attacking midfielder-turned-fullback who has seized his long-awaited PSV chance with both hands.
On any given gameday, there are multiple Americans in PSV's starting XI. There's also a former U.S. men's national team star watching on from the Phillips Stadion director's box. PSV's American Revolution has been spearheaded by Earnie Stewart, PSV's Director of Football, and, when asked about it, he has a confession to make: this has all kind of happened by chance.
This wasn't really the master plan. PSV's American revolution wasn't some long-term scheme to take over Europe with a group of USMNT stars leading the charge. It wasn't the reason Stewart was brought in to lead the club - and it sure as hell wasn't how he expected this to go.
It's working, though, so, in that sense, it's all according to plan.
"It all starts with the way that we want to play and trying to find players that fit that and match that the way that we want to do that," Stewart tells GOAL. "But I will say, and that's not only for myself, but that's probably for a lot of technical directors: once you know there's a market where you have a good understanding and have even worked with players, it does make it easier, in the end, to make sure that you can verify different aspects. No matter if it's just from a technical or tactical element, but also from a character standpoint, that does help in the end.
"In my case, I worked 1) in MLS, but then also; 2) for the national team. As we did our scouting, you learn a lot about the individual players that are there and the talent level that they have. That did help coming into PSV."
And those players fit into the style of what PSV is trying to deliver on the pitch.
"No matter where I've worked, whether that's at the Philadelphia Union or PSV or with the USMNT, for me, it all starts with the identity of who we want to be," he said. "That's not about me and what I feel; it's about winning games. It's about what the DNA is of a club or a country is and trying to instill that within the system that you want to play. Once you have that, it makes your job so much easier in the decisions that you have to make."
It's all come together to form a juggernaut, a club that's on a path towards a second Eredivise title while captivating a new audience an ocean away. How did it come together? GOAL spoke to a group of PSV's American game-changers to find out.