AP Photo/Dave Thompson
Fulham's Tim Ream, center, scores his side's opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Fulham at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023.
Tim Ream has done this before.
The St. Dominic High School and Saint Louis University graduate has played in St. Louis as part of the United States Men’s National Team on two prior occasions. There was the friendly against St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2015, as well as the exhibition versus Uruguay in 2019. Both of those matches, however, took place at Busch Stadium. The opportunity to play for the U.S. at the soccer-specific CITYPARK means this weekend’s friendly against Uzbekistan will be all the more special for Ream.
“To be able to come back and play in an actual soccer stadium—a stadium built [for this] purpose, built for the game and the club here—to be able to experience that is something that, as a kid, you dream of,” Ream says. “As a kid, you think about being able to play in your hometown in a soccer stadium in front of fans and friends. It’ll be really cool.”
But Ream isn’t here simply to reminisce or soak in the hometown nostalgia. This week in St. Louis, he’s on a mission. Less than a year removed from his first World Cup, the 35-year-old is determined to stay internationally relevant. He’s set a list of goals—among them, he wants to be a member of the U.S. squad that will host the 2024 Copa América tournament. Ream is also thinking about the summer of 2026, and representing the United States when the FIFA World Cup returns to North America.
Those goals may be lofty, especially for an athlete approaching the twilight of his career. But Ream has demonstrated in recent years that, for him, age is just a number. He’s only gotten better with time—Ream played every minute of the Americans’ run to the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. In other words, don’t count him out for next summer’s Copa América—or anything else, for that matter.
“As you get older, and as most peoples’ bodies start to give out, their minds start to wander,” Ream says. “For me, I’m just trying to enjoy everything, trying to take it all in and do as much and play as much as I possibly can.”
At the club level, Ream is in his ninth season with Fulham of the Premier League, where he’s the fourth-oldest field player in England’s top level, according to Transfermarkt. His steady presence with the club has made him a favorite among supporters in west London—as well as with peers in his own dressing room.
“Everyone knows Tim is a really important player to this team and program,” U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner says. “To perform at the level he’s performing, week in and week out over the last few years, and to be part of the national team, go away from it, and now come back, he just exudes calmness. … If I can have half the career this guy has had, it’ll be very successful.”
And make no mistake, Ream feels he’s far from done. For now, he’s balancing the excitement of being home with his long-term objectives of extending his career to meet a few additional milestones.
“Tim Ream is a player that I think can make a massive impact for quite a long time,” U.S. assistant B.J. Callaghan said. “And we look forward to that.”
