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Practice?! We talkin' about practice?
United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson missed a training session for the World Cup on Friday, May 29. But he had a good reason. He was getting married!
According to The Athletic, USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino signed off on Aaronson's trip home to Medford, New Jersey, for the wedding festivities.
Aaronson's teammates, who are in Fayetteville, Georgia, outside of Atlanta, were planning on gathering around a laptop during team dinner to watch him and his fiancée, Milana D’Ambra, exchange vows. Gio Reyna’s wife, Chloe, was in charge of FaceTiming the team from the ceremony. Fingers crossed phones were allowed!
“We’re a family, and we want to make sure that everybody gets their moment together,” Cristian Roldan told the publication. “So for us, it’s not a distraction at all, and in fact, Brenden had asked way ahead of time, he was a responsible young adult, to be able to do so. So credit to him, and the coaching staff was on board with it. … We’re all trying to be involved and have a good time with it.”
Aaronson will be back with the team in Georgia for training on Saturday. He will be playing in his second World Cup and saw action in all four of the Stars and Stripes' matches in the 2022 tournament. He has nine goals and seven assists in 57 caps for the USMNT.
The 25-year-old is coming off a season with Leeds United in the Premier League where he made 37 appearances and netted four goals and five assists. He comes from a soccer family. His brother, Paxten, is a midfielder for the Colorado Rapids and represented the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics while his sister, Jaden, is on the soccer team at Villanova. Their father, Rusty, played college soccer at Monmouth and is the Sporting Director at Real Futbol Academy in their hometown.
D’Ambra shared a post on Instagram of her engagement to Aaronson in August 2024. She said the two have been dating since they were 16 years old. She also has soccer in her blood. She played in college at Temple and is the daughter of Don D'Ambra, the head coach of the men's soccer team at his alma mater, Saint Joseph's, where he holds several records as a player. He was previously a player and coach for the Philadelphia KiXX of the Major Indoor Soccer League.
Aaronson's childhood friend and USMNT defender Mark McKenzie joked that his former Philadelphia Union teammate "still hasn’t grown any facial hair.” He shared thoughts from his own experience getting married during training camp before the 2024 Copa América tournament.
“It’s exciting,” he told The Athletic. “You have an exciting summer in your career, and then an exciting moment in your life.”
During USMNT training for the 2016 Copa América, Christian Pulisic was allowed to miss a day to attend his high school prom in Hershey, Pennsylvania. He hired a private plane to get to Kansas City in time for a friendly against Bolivia the next day, where he scored his first goal for the Stars and Stripes.
The USMNT has two friendlies coming up, one on Sunday, May 31 against Senegal, and another on Saturday, June 6 against Germany. Then they kick off their World Cup campaign on Friday, June 12 against Paraguay to open Group D play at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: USMNT's Brenden Aaronson misses World Cup training to get married
Continue reading...
United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson missed a training session for the World Cup on Friday, May 29. But he had a good reason. He was getting married!
According to The Athletic, USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino signed off on Aaronson's trip home to Medford, New Jersey, for the wedding festivities.
Aaronson's teammates, who are in Fayetteville, Georgia, outside of Atlanta, were planning on gathering around a laptop during team dinner to watch him and his fiancée, Milana D’Ambra, exchange vows. Gio Reyna’s wife, Chloe, was in charge of FaceTiming the team from the ceremony. Fingers crossed phones were allowed!
“We’re a family, and we want to make sure that everybody gets their moment together,” Cristian Roldan told the publication. “So for us, it’s not a distraction at all, and in fact, Brenden had asked way ahead of time, he was a responsible young adult, to be able to do so. So credit to him, and the coaching staff was on board with it. … We’re all trying to be involved and have a good time with it.”
Aaronson will be back with the team in Georgia for training on Saturday. He will be playing in his second World Cup and saw action in all four of the Stars and Stripes' matches in the 2022 tournament. He has nine goals and seven assists in 57 caps for the USMNT.
The 25-year-old is coming off a season with Leeds United in the Premier League where he made 37 appearances and netted four goals and five assists. He comes from a soccer family. His brother, Paxten, is a midfielder for the Colorado Rapids and represented the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics while his sister, Jaden, is on the soccer team at Villanova. Their father, Rusty, played college soccer at Monmouth and is the Sporting Director at Real Futbol Academy in their hometown.
D’Ambra shared a post on Instagram of her engagement to Aaronson in August 2024. She said the two have been dating since they were 16 years old. She also has soccer in her blood. She played in college at Temple and is the daughter of Don D'Ambra, the head coach of the men's soccer team at his alma mater, Saint Joseph's, where he holds several records as a player. He was previously a player and coach for the Philadelphia KiXX of the Major Indoor Soccer League.
Aaronson's childhood friend and USMNT defender Mark McKenzie joked that his former Philadelphia Union teammate "still hasn’t grown any facial hair.” He shared thoughts from his own experience getting married during training camp before the 2024 Copa América tournament.
“It’s exciting,” he told The Athletic. “You have an exciting summer in your career, and then an exciting moment in your life.”
During USMNT training for the 2016 Copa América, Christian Pulisic was allowed to miss a day to attend his high school prom in Hershey, Pennsylvania. He hired a private plane to get to Kansas City in time for a friendly against Bolivia the next day, where he scored his first goal for the Stars and Stripes.
The USMNT has two friendlies coming up, one on Sunday, May 31 against Senegal, and another on Saturday, June 6 against Germany. Then they kick off their World Cup campaign on Friday, June 12 against Paraguay to open Group D play at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: USMNT's Brenden Aaronson misses World Cup training to get married
Continue reading...
