For Antonee Robinson, this is personal. The United States full back has been waiting for Friday’s match with England for months, in fact ever since the two nations were paired together in Group B earlier this year. “I couldn’t be happier,” Robinson enthuses.
That’s because Robinson grew up in Liverpool but opted to play for the USA national team age-groups when he was coming through Everton’s academy as a schoolboy. He qualified for the US through his father, Tony, who was born in England but grew up in New York and studied at Duke University, North Carolina, before returning to England and meeting Antonee’s mum, Kelly.
Although Robinson spent his childhood in England and now plays in the Premier League with Fulham, the 25-year-old says there will be no split loyalties come kick-off on Friday. “They’ll all be rooting for me,” he says. “Nobody will be supporting England.”
The encounter, which the USA enter under some pressure in they are to finish in the top two after drawing 1-1 with Wales, means a lot to Robinson. But, firstly, the nickname.
It came from an early training session when a five-year-old Robinson was asked by his father (and coach) what nickname he should have. He blurted out “Jedi”, having recently watched the Star Wars films, and it stuck. “I feel weird being called Antonee,” he says. “My best friend’s mum and dad call me Jedi, or Jed, my team-mates do, my mates do and so does my fiancée, Darcy.”
'USA call-up came at a difficult time'
Robinson struggled with injuries during his time at Everton and when he was 16, a time he calls the “make-or-break” period of his early career, Robinson had not been called into England’s under-18s, getting bypassed in favour of the “favourite guys,” he says. He was called in by Team USA, however, and decided to take up their offer.
“I was going through a time where I wasn’t playing as much as I wanted to and it didn’t feel like I was one of the players that people seemed to think would make something of themselves in the game compared to other [English] players,” Robinson explains. “That’s when the States first reached out to me. I got an under-18s call-up and I never got a call-up for England.
“To get called up for the US just made me feel 10-feet tall and improved my confidence a lot from there, especially coming back from injuries.”
The USA failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup but that signalled the start of a rebuild under then-interim coach Dave Sarachan. He ushered in a youth movement that contained the likes of captain Tyler Adams, Walker Zimmerman and Weston McKennie, along with Robinson.
“It was massive for me to get called up at that time,” Robinson says, who earned his first senior team cap on March 28, 2018, when he played a full 90 minutes and had an assist in a 3-0 win over Bolivia. “When I got the call-up from the men’s [senior] national team,” he adds, “it was a no-brainer. It inspired hope in me as a player at the time.”
England under-21s then came enquiring but Robinson remained loyal to the USA. Quickly he has established himself as one of the most important and valuable members of his American squad — as demonstrated when he won his 30th cap against Wales on Monday. He is the only true left back in Gregg Berhalter’s squad in Qatar.
Robinson’s athleticism has been a feature of his play, and one that the USA will likely need to tap into when they face England at Al Bayt stadium.
In some games for Fulham, he covers three times the team’s average sprint distance and at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium he made 81 sprints, covering 651m at sprint pace, hitting a top speed of 35.4km/h. That beats anything recorded at the last World Cup.
'I'm not the finished article'
Playing on the world stage appeared unlikely when Everton offloaded him aged 20 having not played a first-team game. Robinson rebuilt his career at Wigan Athletic in the Championship, performing so well that he would have joined AC Milan for £6 million in January 2020 had the deal not been abandoned because of an irregular heart rhythm detected during his medical and which has subsequently corrected itself.
Now at Fulham, he is thriving under Marco Silva who has praised the player’s work ethic and attitude. “I’m definitely not the finished article but compared to first time round in the Premier League [the 2020-21 season, when Fulham were relegated] I feel a lot more comfortable, a lot more calm on the ball and like I’m getting the better of my wingers,” he says.
“The manager says I’m improving and he is great on the little details that can make you a better player.” Scoring has also become part of his repertoire, netting two critical goals during the US’s qualification for Qatar. He celebrated those goals, as he always does, with back-flips.
“Unfortunately, I’m confident so I’m going to do it,” he jokes. “It’s one of those muscle-memory things,” adds Robinson, whose other talents include playing piano, the ability to solve a Rubik’s cube and card tricks. “I just know I can do it. It’s all part of the fun in enjoying the game for me.”
Coming up against England will also be an occasion to enjoy. “We’re definitely an underdog. Our group is pretty tough but we’ve got to think we can go through and got to want it more than anyone,” Robinson continues.
“I couldn’t be happier with the draw. I’ve grown up and lived in England my whole life and played against pretty much all of the England squad. So playing England is not intimidating but exciting.
“I remember the day after that draw a headline in one of the English papers: ‘England have the easiest group’ and all that’s going to do is fire us and Wales up. You think you’re just going to come and get a win? It never goes like that. You saw what happened in the Nations League, England losing to teams they thought they’d turn up and beat.
“I want to win every game but I do want to beat them more than anyone, I think.”
