WHILE NICHOLAS GIOACCHINI has been playing well for SM Caen and has been full of confidence throughout 2020, he found himself nervous ahead of his call-up earlier this month. The roster for the United States national team during the November window consisted of a young group of players with an average age of under 22 but Gioacchini was the only player who had never received a call-up before - even at the youth levels.

On the trip to Wales and then on the trip to Austria for the second U.S. game against Panama, Gioacchini, 20, took a completely different approach towards dealing with his preparation for representing his country for the first time.