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Ted Lasso may not be coaching up the U.S. World Cup team, but he still provided the team with some extra motivation heading into the big international tournament.
If you don’t know, Lasso is a fictional character played by Jason Sudeikis in a sports comedy-drama television series called “Ted Lasso.”
The U.S. team printed up 26 billboards with words of encouragement addressed to each national team player as if they were written by the fictional English soccer coach.
This includes Long Island’s Joe Scally, a Sachem North alum who grew up in Lake Grove.
His sign is currently outside of the Lake Grove Village office on 980 Hawkins Ave.
Scally, at 19, is the youngest player on the USMNT. He plays right-back for the team.
Being a teenager on a pro team isn’t anything new for Scally. In 2018, he became the second youngest player to sign with a MLS team when he joined New York City FC at 15 years old. His current club team is Borussia Mönchengladbach in the German Bundesliga, one of the more competitive leagues in Europe.
Scally got first action with the senior U.S. national team last year, which included a match against Morocco last October. He has three caps with the team in total.
The World Cup officially kicked off today in Qatar.
Here is the USMNT’s schedule for the Group Stage:
- U.S. vs. Wales, Nov. 21 at 2 p.m.
- U.S. vs. England, Nov. 25 at 2 p.m.
- U.S. vs Iran, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m.
The two top teams from each group will advance to the next round of the tournament.
Top: Ted Lasso’s billboard message to Joe Scally found in Lake Grove on Hawkins Ave. (Credit: Twitter/Chris Vaccaro)
