Portland Timbers midfielder Darlington Nagbe is currently with the U.S. National Team for the Copa America Centenario tournament. Traditionally, the tournament pits the best teams of the CONEMBOL federation of South America against each other, this year for its 100th anniversary, they moved the tournament to the United States and included teams from North America and Central America in CONCACAF to vie for the title.
We spoke to Nagbe in some downtime between the team’s first group stage game—a 2-0 loss to Colombia—and its second tonight against Costa Rica (5pm PT, FS1, Matchcenter). Nagbe talked about his growing familiarity with the national team, reconnecting with old friends, and singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” for the first time, anywhere, during the seventh inning stretch at Wrigley Field.
Brian Costello:
Let’s start at the beginning. You had kind of a crazy week leading up to your departure for the national team. You scored a golazo for the Timbers against Vancouver in a 4-2 win, then in the same week scored your first-ever goal for the national team in a pre-tournament friendly, 1-0 win against Ecuador. Finally, a few days later, you had a nice assist setting up Christian Pulisic against Bolivia for a 4-0 win over them in a friendly. How were you feeling coming into it all?
Darlington Nagbe:
“I felt good coming into camp. I had been in some good form coming into camp so when I came in here I felt good. And then I knew the guys a little bit more so I just felt more comfortable with the guys, and so far I think we’ve been doing well.”
BC:
There was a pretty big smile on your face when that ball went into the back of the net against Ecuador. What was the feeling like for you in that moment?
DN:
“It was surreal. I couldn’t believe that it was in. At the same time I was happy in that it was a game-winner, obviously, to help the team win the game, and a little fortunate also. I just kept smiling because I hit it down the middle of the goal and I thought the goalie would save it, but I was lucky enough it went in.”
BC:
Though you’ve been called into the national team a couple of times now, the Copa America Centenario is your first major tournament with the team. What’s the feeling been like in there?
DN:
“It’s been good, even though in our first game we didn’t get the result we wanted [losing 2-0 to Colombia last week], but that was our first. That was not the only game that we’re going to have in the tournament, so now I feel like we have a team that we’re playing against in Costa Rica, which we know pretty well, so I’m looking forward to good things in the team hopefully we get the win.”
BC:
There’s a couple of old friends from your time at the University of Akron on this national team roster in Perry Kitchen, who now plays in Scotland with Hearts, and DeAndre Yedlin, who finished last season with Sunderland in the English Premier League. What’s that been like re-connecting with them?
DN:
“That’s been fun just talking about the old Akron days. And obviously, Caleb Porter coached all three of us, so just some good stories.”
BC:
I also saw, though not an Akron guy, but you’ve been having some fun with LA Galaxy forward Gyasi Zardes on social media. What’s that all about? How did that start?
DN:
“I don’t know. (Laughs) We just like hanging out and having fun. He’s a family guy just like me so we try to kill time and make it go by fast. So I like to have a little fun outside and catch him when he’s not looking. I catch some videos or catch some pictures and things like that. So we’ve just been having a good time and trying to enjoy the experience and realize how lucky everybody is to be here.”
BC:
So you’ve got a plan for your next trick with him?
DN:
(Laughs) “No, no. He’s caught onto me so I think I’m out of tricks.”
BC:
This past weekend, you were at the Chicago Cubs game in a break from training and you and some of the other national teamers were able to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh inning stretch. What was that experience like?
DN:
“Well, that was cool. It was amazing. It was a packed house. It was my first time ever singing that song. So it was pretty cool. I didn’t know all the words so we had a little sheet down that I kept trying to peek at. I lost my spot so I had to like mumble a little bit. (Laughs) But it was all fun. It was a great experience in the historic stadium, ballpark as they call it. So it was great.”
BC:
Was it your first time there, to Wrigley?
DN:
“Inside of it, yeah. I’ve been there with the Timbers. Not inside of the stadium but I think it was a game day. We kind of walked around just checking everything out. But this was my first time in the ballpark, watching a game there.”
BC:
Growing up in Ohio, I know you’re a Cleveland guy through and through, but would you say you’re a Cubs fan or are you more of an Indians fan? Or maybe just for the day, maybe the Cubs?
DN:
(Laughs.) “I would say I’m more of an Indians fan. I’m not too much into baseball, but I’m always going to support the hometown team.”
BC:
Getting back to the tournament, and you alluded to this a little bit earlier, but you were not really happy with obviously the result from the first game in the loss to Colombia. What’s the feeling coming out of that game and then getting ready for the second match against Costa Rica?
DN:
“Coming out of that game, I think it was good overall. They had two set-piece chances that they put away in the corner kick and the other being a penalty kick, so it was the two goals that they had. I thought we defended well. We had some opportunities ourselves that we’ll put away the next game. Going into the next game, we’re just confident we’ve got the hardest team out of the way and we look forward to Costa Rica, a team that we’re more familiar with, and try to get a good game against them, a good performance and hopefully a win.”
