Robinson: I like being an underdog and upsetting people
The USA left-back speaks to FIFA+ about winning over coach Berhalter and wanting to prove to people in England that his side are a force to be reckoned with.
Robinson motivated by certain people in England underestimating the US
Fulham defender has had to prove himself throughout his career
He won over US coach Berhalter after a rough start to his tenure
When Antonee Robinson detected a feeling of contentment in some English quarters following the draw for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, the USA left-back was immediately “fired up”. It was an instinctive response to a perceived slight that shone a bright light on the character of a persevering, undaunted and resilient competitor. The 25-year-old, a first pick for Gregg Berhalter after comprehensively winning over the formerly sceptical American coach, is modest, thoughtful and proud.
Robinson was fresh from a loan with Bolton Wanderers in the English Championship when he made a senior USA debut shortly before the 2018 Russia World Cup, the first tournament without American involvement since 1986.
Prevailing opinion at Robinson’s parent club Everton was that the player, who joined aged 11, didn’t possess the attributes to reach the height of his sport. His progress at Goodison Park was checked by fitness issues – Robinson broke his left knee patella in 2014 and the following year needed microfracture surgery on his right knee – and the presence of first-rate left-back Leighton Baines. The eve of a World Cup meeting with England, the country of Robinson’s birth, partway through a personally exceptional Premier League campaign, then, feels an appropriate point to reflect on the Fulham player’s steeply-climbing career trajectory. “To come from where I have, and shattered the expectations people did or didn’t have of me, to play in this World Cup, means everything to me,” says Robinson. “My family expected me to do big things, though, and to achieve everything they thought I would and still have so much room to grow and so much ahead of me, makes them immensely proud.
“To turn around my situation to play regularly in the Premier League and know I genuinely had a big part in helping us qualify for this World Cup, and wasn’t just making up the numbers, means even more. That is why we play the game. To win and to be competitive and to make our family and friends proud of us. It is a genuinely proud moment for me and stepping on the pitch at a World Cup was one of the best days of my life.”
Robinson started and finished USA’s first World Cup game since the last-16 defeat by Belgium in 2014 when Berhalter’s team drew 1-1 with Wales on Monday. He was typically quick and energetic – Robinson registered 81 sprints, recorded a comparatively extraordinary high-intensity distance of 1,618m and clocked a top speed of 35.4km/h, surpassing anything attained at World Cup 2018 – and prominent in a fast, aggressive and purposeful first-half performance when USA threatened to blow away their opponents. As it was, the US had only one goal to show for their superiority and Wales recovered for an ultimately deserved draw. Don’t expect Gareth Bale’s late penalty to clip the wings of Berhalter’s intrepid team, however. USA didn’t have it all their own way in CONCACAF qualifying. They had to wait until their third match for a victory, when Robinson’s equaliser after coming on at half-time in Honduras paved the way for a 4-1 win. They eventually took the final automatic qualification spot, pipping Costa Rica on goal difference. Berhalter’s squad boasts only one player with World Cup experience in 2014 veteran DeAndre Yedlin and its average age of 25 years and two months makes it the second youngest at the tournament behind Ghana. Robinson, however, insists the USA’s objective in Qatar is to surpass the achievements of the team of 2002, which reached the quarter-finals.
“If we follow our gameplan and give everything we have, there is no limit to what we can do,” he says. “On our day, we can beat any team in front of us. We are coming here to try to win the World Cup.
“It was the first qualifying cycle for a lot of players. Going through that and learning in the deep end brought the group together and taught us what it takes. The World Cup is new territory, but we have already entered new territory together. I know you hear this a lot from players, but I have never felt the togetherness and belief we share in our group. I am very excited going into battle with this team.” Robinson qualifies for USA through father Marlon, who gained citizenship after moving from England to White Plains, New York, as a teenager. The player represented his adopted country at U-18 and U-23 levels before his first senior call-up under interim coach Dave Sarachan in May 2018, providing an assist in a debut win over Bolivia. However, he initially regressed under Berhalter, who was appointed in December 2018. He is unflinching when reliving his first game for the coach, who selected Robinson at wing-back for a friendly against Jamaica. “Even in training leading up to the game, I wasn’t really at a level,” says Robinson, who was playing for Wigan Athletic at the time. “Gregg is quite a technical coach and it wasn’t something I’d known at that point of my career. Playing for Bolton and Wigan, I was largely dependent on my athleticism to get me through games.
“When I received my next call-up [in November 2020, after 17 months out of the picture], I still wasn’t playing my game or full of confidence. But when we got to the World Cup qualifiers, I let loose and understood everything he was asking from me, offensively and defensively. I was confident and knew what to do in games and chipped in with goals and assists.” Universally known as Jedi, the nickname that’s accompanied him since the age of five, Robinson marked his strike against Honduras with a 360-degree backflip. Does he have anything planned if scores in Qatar? “Scoring at a World Cup is no easy feat and I have in my head what I would do,” comes the reply. “I hope it becomes a reality, then everyone will know.”
It betrays an innate flamboyance that Robinson cites South Africa’s joyful goal celebrations at their home tournament in 2010 among favourite World Cup memories. He is passing time in the players’ lounge at the US hotel – beside the “messing around and playing pool” – watching other fixtures because, “we are still those kids who grew up watching the World Cup”. “If we were at home,” continues Robinson, “we’d be trying to watch the games. It is the biggest event in the world.”
Robinson, who transferred from Wigan to Fulham in August 2020, is conscious of USA’s record of winning one and drawing one of two World Cup fixtures with England. The 1-0 defeat for England in Belo Horizonte in 1950 has been widely revisited this week following the exploits of Saudi Arabia and Japan. When the countries met in Rustenburg 12 years ago, it was a man of Fulham, Clint Dempsey, who scored for the States in a 1-1 draw. The Fulham-USA connection gave birth to the term Fulhamerica and Robinson is grateful for the two-pronged support harvested by compatriots Brian McBride, Carlos Bocanegra, Kasey Keller, Eddie Johnson and Dempsey. Robinson nonetheless recalls England, in his view, expecting to brush aside USA in 2010. And he noted a similar outlook among sections of the media when the nations were drawn together in Qatar. “It was a similar story back then [2010], England would look down on the USA,” says Robinson. “When the draw came out a lot of papers were saying England had the easiest group. I think it is the hardest group. That fired me up even more to diminish the claim they would stroll through the group. “I like being an underdog and upsetting people and if I can play that role, it would be great. Previous US teams have got through on determination and grit and workrate. They have never been easy to play against. If we can emulate that and add our quality, we will be fine.”
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