DaMarcus Beasley Talks USMNT’s World Cup Chances & More

DaMarcus Beasley is the only American man to play in four World Cups, so when he says this United States team belongs in the conversation with the world's best, it carries weight. And he said it without hedging.

"They're up there. I'm telling you, this is not me just saying because I'm an ex-player," Beasley told the show. He put the U.S. effort in the first two matches alongside France, Spain, Germany, Portugal and Argentina with Messi. "If they keep this level of performance, they can compete with anybody."

The comparison he keeps coming back to is his own 2002 squad, the team that stunned the world and reached the quarterfinals after decades of American futility. What links the two, in his eyes, is not just talent but chemistry, the kind that shows up in the players who barely see the field.

"You'll have that 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd player that don't really touch the field," Beasley said of a World Cup roster under Mauricio Pochettino. "Are they still lifting up and being positive around the locker room? From what it seems like in my eyes, they have that part down pat."

The night's tactical wrinkle was the yellow cards. With several U.S. players a single booking away from suspension, Beasley said resting them is a no-brainer with the knockout round looming next month and the cards set to reset.

"You're not risking them," he said, while also noting the value of getting fringe players real minutes so no one comes "in from the cold" after weeks without a match.

Beasley did not sugarcoat his feelings on officiating, or on VAR. He admitted he was never kind to referees and still is not, pointing to inconsistency as his biggest gripe, the way one foul draws a booking and an identical play does not. As for replay, he calls it disruptive even when it gets the call right.

"I am not a fan of VAR," Beasley said. He acknowledged it helps on offside calls, red cards and penalties, but he would rather live with human error. "I wish the game would go back to just human error. Everyone makes mistakes, and that's why we all love sports."

He even revisited his own ghost, a goal against Italy waved off for offside in 2006. Asked for the one call he would take back, he answered before the question finished, then laughed at himself. "I do think it was still offsides, but still, I wish that was one call that I could get back."

The young star of the tournament drew his warmest words. Alex Freeman, 19, has gone from MLS Next to Orlando City's first team to starting right back for the national side in roughly 18 months, and Beasley sees no limit.

"His ceiling, I don't even know if he has a ceiling, that's how good he is," he said, echoing Pochettino's claim that Freeman could become one of the best right backs in the world. Beasley made his own World Cup debut at 20 in 2002, so he recognizes the wide-eyed fearlessness. "Once the whistle blows, you don't know what to expect. You just go out there and play."

If the U.S. makes a deep run, Beasley named the engine: Chris Richards, the center back he calls the heart and soul of the team, alongside Tyler Adams, Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie. Pulisic, banged up and held out of the last match, has to be fit and at 100%.

"If those four can stay healthy," Beasley said, "we can have a really good showing at this World Cup."