FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – As the New England Revolution returned to Foxborough from Los Angeles, California for their final stage of preseason preparation before their season opener at the Portland Timbers on February 26, the locker room welcomed a new teammate – striker Jozy Altidore.
“I’m thrilled to be here,” Altidore said while meeting with the local media for the first time on Tuesday. “[It’s a] fantastic locker room, great group of guys, and I’m just really excited to be back in the States – that was huge for me and my family – and to start playing soccer again. I’m just excited to be home.”
As an 11-season MLS veteran, two-time U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year, and a Dutch Cup title winner with more than 200 appearances in European club competition to augment his stateside resume, Altidore has had an extremely accomplished career to date as a 32-year-old.
Statistically speaking, Altidore has more than 195 career goals and 550 games played for club and country as he joins the Revs, and while he has battled injuries in recent years, he has every intention of building on his decorated success.
This new signing, which officially transpired on Valentine’s Day, may be a perfect match for the Revs.
The saying goes that old friends can always pick up right where they left off, and that sentiment rings true for Altidore, as he enters a new chapter under his former coach, Bruce Arena.
The duo worked together at the New York Red Bulls when a teenaged Altidore was just beginning his career in 2006 and 2007, and then again during Arena's second stint with the U.S. Men's National Team in 2016-17. Now Altidore is eager to have another opportunity to work under the winningest coach in MLS history once again.
“Bruce, he’s the same,” said Altidore. “Funny enough, he hasn’t changed at all. I can't believe it. He's the same exact way he was about 15 years ago when I worked with him at the club level and in a lot of ways I think that’s really good. In this industry, people don’t let success get to them.
“I see a lot of that in Bruce, but he still wants to win. He still wants to win. He's still pushing guys every day, so I'm excited to get to work with him again.”
In typical Arena fashion, he outlined exactly what his expectations are for the veteran striker as he joins New England.
“Bruce talked to me about the team that he had, about the strike force that he had and just wanting to add to it,” said Altidore. “Obviously, you know what these guys are able to do looking at them last year. He said, ‘Listen, we have a great team, but we want to add to it. We want to add guys that can help take some load off these guys and come in and fill some minutes and score goals, obviously, most importantly.’”
Arena’s message to make a tangible, big-time impact going forward for this team truly energized Altidore.
“I was really excited about that,” said Altidore. “At this point in my career, it was something I viewed as really, really exciting and something I entertained, because that's where I am. You can’t beat father time, so I'm excited to come in and be that part that he’s looking for within the group and help this team try to win a trophy. That’s what we’re all here for, to try to win the championship.”
Beyond the ability to contribute to a championship caliber team, Altidore is also eager to join the roster for the high quality of people in the locker room.
“I'm excited to be a part of it, and the guys are amazing,” said Altidore. “It's one of the best locker rooms I’ve been a part of in my career.
“It’s been a short time, but you can already see the professionalism. There are no egos. Everybody just wants to win and work. I'm excited to be a part of a group like this.”
