Aktivitas harian Alex kemudian dipenuhi dengan sepak bola, mulai dari menonton pertandingan lewat gawai hingga menendang bola di dalam rumah.

Antonio terus memberikan dukungan moral, terutama saat Alex masih berjuang di tim akademis dan tim B Orlando City.

"It was soccer every day, all day.

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He was watching it on his iPad, he was kicking the balls around the house against the furniture, which you're not supposed to do.

He kicked everything. It didn't matter what it looked like, he would just kick it.

And he just grew into the sport," ujar Antonio Freeman.

"Even then, he was playing for the B team, so it's not like he was getting a lot of time with the big team," kata Antonio Freeman menambahkan terkait masa-masa sulit anaknya.

"I didn't really know what to tell him as a parent. I just told him, 'Hey, just keep working, be ready.

The next opportunity will come. You just got to make it happen.'"

Kepastian posisi Alex di tim Piala Dunia didapatkan bulan lalu melalui pesan video dari manajer tim nasional, Mauricio Pochettino, saat Alex dan ayahnya sedang berada di Spanyol.

Alex mengungkapkan bahwa ayahnya langsung berteriak kegirangan saat melihat pengumuman tersebut.

"My dad got to see it for the first time and started going crazy," ucap Alex Freeman.

Bagi Antonio, momen tersebut terasa jauh lebih luar biasa dibandingkan saat dirinya terpilih dalam Draft NFL putaran ketiga oleh Packers pada tahun 1995 silam.