Timothy Chandler has World Cup experience for the United States and has huge expectations from the current side

Playing in the World Cup has to be one of the goals for any football player, and Timothy Chandler achieved that with the United States in 2014.

Chandler, who is German-American, didn’t get any game time for the USMNT in 2014 but the World Cup still has some great memories for the right-back.

In an interview with Betway, Chandler brought up what he felt representing the Stars and Stripes:

“I think this was one of the biggest things in my career and meant a lot to me.

“That’s why I say it’s a big, big part of my career to play for a national team.

“I learned a lot in big games against big countries. We played against Portugal, Germany, Belgium and Ghana, so it was a great experience.”

Football might not have been one of the top sports in the US a few decades back but its growth in the country seems to be unstoppable now.

The MLS has grown to 27 teams and plans are afoot to expand this to 29 by 2023. Top names from Europe have also played there with the likes of Thierry Henry, Steven Gerrard and David Villa all starring at various clubs.

While the MLS still isn’t on the levels of top European leagues, Chandler brought up how the competition is growing and that many stars want to play in America.

He also highlighted a desire to play in the US but went on to say that Frankfurt was his home:

“We had a player at Frankfurt called Dejan Joveljic, who has moved to LA Galaxy,” he says.

“I see a lot of players want to go and play there. I thought about it a couple of times, but Frankfurt is my hometown club.

“I do think MLS can achieve a lot in the next couple of years, they can come close to Europe.

“The future is always difficult to tell, but I really think there is a lot to come.”

Big expectations ahead of the 2022 World Cup

The 2022 World Cup isn’t all that far away and the United States seem set to qualify for the tournament.

This World Cup, in Qatar, will take place during the winter months, which is a first. The US missed out on the 2018 World Cup, which came as a huge blow to the country.

However, things look better for 2022 and Chandler backed the current roster to reach the quarter-finals, at least:

“I really think the team has a lot of good players.

“Look at John Brooks or Weston McKennie, who plays for one of the biggest clubs in Europe.

“I think the target is to go far at the World Cup, maybe we can reach the quarter finals.

“With this team, a lot of things are possible.”

McKennie and Brooks are a couple of stars who feature in the top leagues in Europe, but reaching the quarter-finals won’t be easy

The US reached this stage back in 2002 and they have reached the round of 16 in each of their two previous appearances in the World Cup.

International tournaments are always full of surprises, and it will be interesting to see if the US are able to claim a few top scalps and create history in Qatar.