"I just went ecstatic, man. I just lost it, ran around the room, kind of crazy." That's Antonio Freeman — Green Bay Packers legend, Super Bowl winner, a man who played in front of 70,000 screaming fans — describing the moment his son Alex earned his first USMNT cap.
If that doesn't tell you how far Alex Freeman has come, the numbers will. Eighteen months ago, he had logged exactly 10 minutes of MLS football across two full seasons. He entered 2025 as a fringe player at Orlando City SC, borderline anonymous in a league that doesn't lack for talented young right-backs. Today, he's starting at a home World Cup.
The breakout that changed everything
It started with one substitute appearance against Philadelphia Union in the 2025 season opener. One game, and Orlando's coaching staff had seen enough to start him in the next match. He scored his first MLS goal and never surrendered the spot.
By June, Mauricio Pochettino had handed him his international debut against Türkiye — the youngest first cap under the Argentine's tenure. Freeman then started every game in the United States' run to the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final. Pochettino, a manager not known for handing trust to unproven players, quickly made him a fixture.
He finished the MLS season with 30 appearances, six goals, nine goal contributions, MLS Best XI, and an All-Star nod. Christian Pulisic — Champions League winner, the closest thing American football has to a household name — called him "an absolute beast." That's not a throwaway compliment from Pulisic. He doesn't do those.
In January 2026, Villarreal paid $4 million (with incentives up to $6.5 million) to take him to La Liga. He became the first player in Orlando City history to travel the full path from academy to MLS NEXT Pro to MLS to Europe's top five leagues — and then straight to a World Cup squad.
Antonio Freeman wanted a linebacker, got a right-back
The elder Freeman had other plans. "I had dreams of coaching him in football and basketball," he told ESPN. The NFL pedigree was there — Antonio led the Packers in receiving for four straight seasons and was selected in the third round of the 1995 Draft. The athleticism clearly transferred. The sport didn't.
"It was soccer every day, all day. He was watching it on his iPad, he was kicking the balls around the house against the furniture." Alex had made his choice early, and he never looked back.
Antonio's advice when his son was stuck on the fringes at Orlando was simple and unsentimental: "Just keep working, be ready. The next opportunity will come. You just got to make it happen."
He made it happen. And now Antonio Freeman, a man who thought his days of pre-game nerves were behind him, is sitting in the stands at a FIFA World Cup watching his 21-year-old son start for the United States. "Back to being nervous with the jitters right before the game, throughout the game," he said. "This experience has just been amazing."
For anyone tracking USMNT depth at right-back, Freeman's form is now a central variable — and his Villarreal move means he arrives at this tournament with La Liga minutes in his legs, not just MLS. That's a different kind of preparation.
"To be one of the only 26 selected to represent the United States of America at a young age of 21," Antonio said, "is very special for him and, of course, for me as a dad."
