It's not lost on Alex Freeman that his first U.S. Men's National Team match after the 2026 FIFA World Cup is happening in Orlando, Florida.
The city where his professional career started, where he broke through, and where, less than a year after he packed his bags for La Liga's Villarreal CF, he'll pull on a national team jersey in front of the fans who watched him grow up in front of them.
"I think it's very special for me," Freeman said at Inter.co Stadium on Friday. "Knowing that this is kind of a place that jump-started my career, this is kind of a place where I kind of showcase myself. Just coming back here, after leaving in January, not even a year later, I feel like for me, it's a full-circle moment. It's something that's so amazing because I have so much family near here, so many friends that can come and see the game.
"I feel like for me, it's also just being able to give back to the fans, knowing that maybe I didn't have the proper send-off. Maybe this can kind of be a way of me showing what I can showcase another time, because hopefully they've missed me a little bit, and hopefully I can have a good performance tomorrow and remind them what kind of player they had."
Freeman and current Orlando City Homegrown product Justin Ellis both earned call-ups to the U.S. Men's National Team this month, and tomorrow, both will have the chance to represent their country against Peru in the same building where their careers as professionals first took shape.
While Freeman returns as a player with regular caps now under his belt, Ellis comes into the national team chasing his first minutes in the senior squad, having the potential to do it in the building where his professional career also began.
Both players came up through Orlando City Academy and the MLS NEXT Pro pathway together, a route Freeman says he sees mirrored in Ellis's own journey.
"When I first saw the initial roster, and I saw Justin on it, it made me happy," Freeman said. "I know how much it took for him to get here. He's gone through the same pathway as me, being able to be successful in such a short amount of time like myself. It just shows that Orlando is keen on playing young players, and the young players are keen on performing. In the past two years, we've had two people come up in very fast sprints to be able to come and perform, and I think for me, I just knew that having Justin here is something he's always wanted."
Freeman has been helping Ellis through the first few days of his call-up, but the former Lions defender has also been giving him room to find his own footing.
"I think for me, it's how can I come here and support him whenever he needs, but also give him the space," Freeman said. "I know he's a young person. He doesn't want me talking to him all the time, he wants to have his own time and be able to work things his way, knowing he's going to have to go in and talk to coaches by himself, without me. It's how can I support him whenever he needs, but let him be his own person as well."
For Ellis, he has been taking on Freeman's advice, while also turning to the more veteran players on the roster, namely Gio Reyna, a player that Ellis has talked about looking forward to playing with before going off to camp.
"He's actually been so good to me in this camp," Ellis said of Reyna. "He's been probably the most talkative senior player, besides Freeman. Playing with him, I think we see the game in a similar way. We both love playing with the ball, and I think we can connect really well when we're on the field. Off the field, he's a great guy, and he's really taken me out there as well."
Both players credit their path to this moment, in part, to Orlando City Academy Director and current Head of Player Development Javier Carrillo, who brought them both to Orlando when their stints down in South Florida didn't pan out as they hoped.
"For me, and I think for Justin as well, Javi is probably one of the most influential people, not only in our football but in our lives," Ellis said. "He took us to Orlando when the opportunity wasn't there in South Florida, and he just kind of paved the way for both of us. He gave us confidence to take our game to the next level."
"Javi has been one of those guys who took a chance on us when no one else believed," Freeman added. "As a person, I feel like that's something that's very hard to do, knowing he was doing it in a professional aspect as well, knowing that if it didn't work out, how would it look on him. But he trusted in us to be able to take us here to Orlando. I feel like it's something we're forever grateful for."
That Orlando pipeline extends to tomorrow's opponent too. Both Freeman and Ellis have ties to two of the Peruvian internationals: Lions midfielder Wilder Cartagena and former goalkeeper Pedro Gallese.
"With Pedro and Wilder, I feel like both those guys helped when I first came up into the ranks and became a first-team player," Freeman said. "Pedro's a goalkeeper, so he had to communicate with me a lot, and Wilder was also a guy who sat next to me in the locker room. It's funny, Justin took my spot in the locker room, so Wilder was next to me, and we talked a lot. I always had a good conversation and a good friendship with them. Playing against them, it's going to be a rivalry. Me and Wilder already talked about it. It's going to be a battle, and it's how we go into that battle and hopefully come out on top."
