MEXICO CITY – Bruce Arena, the head coach of the United States national soccer team, wanted to make something clear.
When his team takes the field against Mexico at Azteca Stadium on Sunday, it will be representing the United States. It won’t be representing its president.
It’s a strange time to be an American, especially an American abroad. And with the U.S. playing in Mexico for the first time since Donald Trump was elected president, Arena was doing the same awkward dance many of us do these days when speaking to foreigners or visiting another country, explaining how the views and policies of the administration might not reflect your own.