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Sometimes, you have to wait for the good stuff. Just ask Tim Ream. One day after his wedding in 2012, the St. Louis soccer star had to delay his honeymoon in Tahiti so that he could join Bolton Wanderers of the English Premier League. Then, this past fall, Ream had to reschedule a family trip to a Disney theme park when he was selected to the U.S. Men’s National Team’s 26-man roster for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. “That was a tough sell for my three kids, for sure,” Ream says. But the 35-year-old doesn’t mind practicing a little patience. He’s learned that there’s usually a reward. The opportunity to play for a World Cup represented the realization of a dream for Ream, who played at St. Dominic High School and Saint Louis University. He played every minute of the Americans’ stay at the tournament, while providing veteran stability at center back as the oldest player on the team. Now, he’s one of five contenders for the BioSteel U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year award. We recently caught up with Ream, who’s back in England playing with Fulham in the Premier League.
Now that you’ve had a chance to digest your time in Qatar, what did you take from the World Cup experience? It was a dream come true. As a little kid, you always imagine going to a World Cup and playing in a World Cup. To be able to actually do that and turn that into reality was pretty cool. Then, to be one of the oldest guys at the tournament—the oldest on the U.S. team—and have my family and my kids and my wife there to experience it as well, it just made it that much more special.
How did you decompress after playing on one of the biggest sporting stages on the planet? Thankfully, the club gave us a week off. So we just came home (to London) and I did normal stuff around the house. We went to dinner, took the kids to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, rode the amusement rides, played games, and just tried to get back into the routine here. After being away for three weeks, it’s a little bit of a shock to the system when your kids are waking up at 6 a.m., and having to get up and take them to school. But, just normal stuff.
Photography by mike miller
I imagine you were focused on the task at hand in Qatar, but how tuned in were you to all of the support you had back in St. Louis? I saw a lot through social media. We had conversations beforehand and so we all knew about the Ted Lasso stuff going up for all the guys. That was pretty cool and pretty funny. A lot of people were reaching out and sending different photos and videos. The high school was watching the games and putting up their own banners. It was pretty obvious to me how much support there was. It was greatly appreciated. St. Louis is where I’m from. It’s the place that helped me develop as a person and as a player, and helped me get to the World Cup stage. So I was pretty tuned in to all the support from afar.
How surreal was it to share that experience with another native of the St. Louis region, Josh Sargent? It was cool. It was really cool. We’ve had that conversation before, especially because we have that connection of being from the same area and going to the same high school—many, many years apart. I filled him in on the fact that there’s been a St. Louis connection to every World Cup going back to the 1950 team. So it was neat. It’s cool whenever you have a shared history, a shared background, or shared connections with someone. The fact that our World Cup campaign kicked off with him passing the ball straight back to me was another pretty cool moment during the whole thing. But just getting to spend time with him was a pretty cool situation.
What was it like for you to occupy the role of the elder statesman? Were there things you tried to impart on all of the younger guys before or after the tournament? You try to help them understand that nothing is ever guaranteed. You’re never guaranteed another game, or another training session. You’re never guaranteed another World Cup. That’s the way I’ve approached my career, especially during the past two or three years. It’s something I hope they understand. If they weren’t able to play anymore, would they look at themselves and their careers and say, “I’ve done everything I possibly could, and I can be proud of what I’ve done.” That was the biggest thing for me to try and impart on the younger guys is just to make sure you’re putting everything in every single day, because you just don’t know where and when it’ll end.
Going back to where it all began for you, we’re only a couple of months away from watching St. Louis welcome Major League Soccer to town. As someone who’s played in the league and knows the region well, what kind of opportunity does this present for soccer in St. Louis? When I was growing up there, we didn’t have a team in our backyard. We would only get to see an MLS game if we had a tournament near Chicago or Kansas City. There was never a team that you could regularly see and aspire to be on. In terms of youth development, it’ll be huge. All of a sudden, you now have a team that you can dream of playing for in your hometown. I just think it’s going to be amazing. Something I’ve noticed from being over here for so long is that when parents bring their kids and walk from the parking lots to the game, there’s a vibrancy you can feel on match days. We didn’t have that. But families will now have the ability to enjoy the sport together at the highest level of American soccer. It will be an inspiration for the kids and a bonding opportunity for moms and dads to bring their little boys and little girls to the game. It’s just a fantastic opportunity for the city to showcase what everyone has always known about it. It’s a great soccer city.
As someone who’s been steeped in the local tradition, how meaningful is it for you to have more people around the country see how deep the game’s roots go in St. Louis? It’s great that it’s going to showcase the tradition and the history that has always been there. It’s a chance for the city and the surrounding areas to showcase what people in St. Louis have always known. There are great supporters and great youth clubs. Now, there will be a straight line from the youth level to the professional level. It’s going to be great for the city as a whole, but also for the soccer community. It probably should’ve happened sooner.
