U.S. SOCCER NATIONAL TRAINING CENTER (Fayetteville, Ga.) \u2014 When the U.S. men\u2019s national team took the pitch Friday afternoon for training, a player was missing. That\u2019s because Leeds United midfielder Brenden Aaronson briefly left camp. But for good reason \u2014 to attend his own wedding. Aaronson, 25, received permission from the U.S. coaching staff to fly down to Florida to marry fianc\u00e9, Milana D\u2019Ambra, whom he\u2019s been with since they were teenagers. He\u2019s expected back on Saturday when the USA has one more practice at the National Training Center outside of Atlanta before flying to Charlotte for a pre-World Cup tuneup match vs. Senegal on Sunday afternoon at Bank of America Stadium. While Aaronson\u2019s teammates are bummed to miss the nuptials in person, they\u2019re hoping to watch a livestream. U.S. midfielder Gio Reyna\u2019s wife, Chloe, is a guest and the plan is for her to FaceTime him, so the guys can pull it up on a laptop during dinner for all to witness. As long as it\u2019s not a “no-phones” wedding, that is. “We\u2019re trying to get clarity on that,” midfielder Cristian Roldan told a small group of reporters during a roundtable on Friday. It\u2019s easy to see how a player leaving camp at such a pivotal time before a World Cup might be disruptive. But that\u2019s not the case here. “We\u2019re a family,” Roldan said of his teammates. “We want to make sure that everybody gets their moment. It\u2019s not a distraction at all and in fact, Brenden asked way ahead of time. He was a responsible young adult, so credit to him. And the coaching staff was on board with it and so you know, if the coaching staff is on board, we\u2019re all trying to be involved and have a good time with it.” Mark McKenzie has been friends with Aaronson since they were 10 and both came up through the Philadelphia Union academy system. He was in similar shoes when he left camp ahead of the 2024 Copa Am\u00e9rica to get married. He said the most stressful part was for his wife, worrying about potential flight cancellations or any other last-minute changes. “It\u2019s not the easiest thing, but you make it happen,” McKenzie said. “I\u2019m really happy for him. I\u2019ve known B since we were 10, 11 years old, so to see him get married now \u2014 he still hasn\u2019t grown any facial hair. “But yeah,” a smiling McKenzie continued, “it\u2019s a special moment and I think everyone is understanding of that and excited for him. And when he gets back, we\u2019ll be sure to break him in a little bit and welcome him back with open arms.” Aaronson is one of 13 holdovers from the 2022 World Cup roster to make this squad. He\u2019s been part of the senior national team for the better part of the past six years and has 57 caps, nine goals and seven assists. He had the 2026 World Cup marked on his calendar, but timing can be tricky when planning life events after factoring in the calendar for both club and country. Players on both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s national teams have been candid in the past about that, including when to start families. Aaronson plays in the Premier League and players competing at the World Cup are granted a mandatory break before returning to their clubs. But Aaronson can\u2019t predict how far the Americans will go \u2013 the team could be eliminated June 25 following the group stage, make it to the final on July 19, or more likely, finish somewhere in between. “These are the big life moments that you have to sprinkle in whenever you can,” goalkeeper Matt Turner said. “And it\u2019s great for him to be able to go and do that and I\u2019m jealous that we\u2019re not all there.” Four years ago, the outlook may have been different. The U.S. had the youngest team at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and only a couple of players were married with children. Now, Reyna is married and has a dog. Roldan is married and has a daughter. Tyler Adams joked Thursday that the biggest difference between this World Cup and the last one is he now has two kids. The priority of competing and winning, especially at a World Cup on home soil, remains the same. But everyone has gone through different life stages since the last major tournament and that fundamentally changes the dynamics of the team. Roldan said he loves watching his daughter play with Christian Pulisic and interacting with Turner\u2019s kids, and that it just makes the group “a whole lot closer.” “It\u2019s a beautiful thing,” Roldan said. “And I hope we can accomplish something great together because that\u2019ll make it feel really, really special.” Added Turner: “Sometimes you can lose touch with the fact that there\u2019s a human side to players. \u2026 It\u2019s really nice to see how everyone grows off the field as well as on the field and how they\u2019re using new motivations every time they step out there.” Players said they didn\u2019t have a big send-off for Aaronson. But 22-year-old backup goalkeeper Chris Brady joked they did give him one piece of advice before he took off. “Just, good luck,” Brady said. “Don\u2019t f*** it up. Say, \u2018I do.\u2019”<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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