MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — After losing a second-half lead to Costa Rica, this young U.S. side was forced into a shootout with the daunting task of facing goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
Matt Freese studied for this. Literally.
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United States goalkeeper Matthew Freese (25) is congratulated after he saved enough Costa Rica penalty kicks for his team to prevail in a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals soccer match Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP)
United States goalkeeper Matthew Freese (25) stops a shot during the second half of a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals soccer match against Costa Rica, Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
United States goalkeeper Matthew Freese, front right, reacts toward the crowd after he saved enough Costa Rica penalty kicks for his team to prevail in a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals soccer match Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP)
United States goalkeeper Matthew Freese (25) grabs a corner kick after Costa Rica defender Francisco Calvo (15) missed heading it in the second half of a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals soccer match Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP)
The late-blooming national team rookie, who made a costly mistake in the previous match, actually conducted an in-depth research project in college at Harvard about penalty kicks.
Freese spent the flight to Minneapolis reviewing his findings and examining Costa Rica's tendencies, time well spent that fueled his steely performance in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal victory on Sunday night.
“To be able to rely on that type of thing and deal with a lot of statistics and read the game and read their hips, things like that, is massive,” Freese said after making three saves in the six-round shootout won 4-3 by the Americans after a 2-2 tie in regulation.
The Americans play Guatemala in the semifinals on Wednesday in St. Louis. If the U.S. can rely on Freese like this moving forward, that too would be an enormous boost.
The 26-year-old native of Pennsylvania, who has displaced for now 2022 World Cup and 2023 Gold Cup starter Matt Turner, knocked away shootout attempts by Juan Pablo Vargas, Francisco Calvo and Andy Rojas. Calvo scored on Freese in the 12th minute on a penalty kick.
Freese, a little-used backup for Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union before a trade to New York City FC in 2023 jump-started his career, has had little time with the national team for training. His path was only cleared this spring by injuries to Patrick Schulte and Zack Steffen.
But new coach Mauricio Pochettino has been determined to push his young players into the deep end during this biennial championship for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, with Freese at the forefront of the experiment.
“I’ve just got to be ready for whatever game I get, for whatever moment is there for me,” said Freese, who gave up one goal in three group stage matches. “He’s shown a lot of faith in me. That’s something I’m really grateful for, and it’s my job to repay him and help the team win.”
The goal Freese gave up during the group stage was quite a gaffe, a misfired clearing attempt against Haiti that set up the tying goal in a game the U.S. won 2-1. But Pochettino and his staff had no problem sending Freese back to the net for the knockout rounds.
“It’s an opportunity to show you can bounce back, an opportunity to learn and quickly move on to the next,” Freese said.
Turner played only three club matches in the recently ended season for Crystal Palace, all in the FA Cup and none since March 1. The critical position is wide open for Freese — or anyone — to seize it with the North American World Cup looming next summer.
“I think it’s good for Matt, for the rest of the keepers, to see that they can have the possibility and deal with the pressure,” Pochettino said. “Because you never know what’s going to happen in one year. Now is the moment to test or to give the possibility to show that they can deal with that stress and perform.”
Pochettino didn't directly answer a question about whether Freese has passed Turner on the depth chart. But the native of Argentina, who began his playing career with the same club that Navas stars for and briefly managed him with Paris Saint-Germain, was clearly pleased by the way his keeper stepped up with one of the best in the world during the dramatic shootout.
After each save, Freese told himself he wanted another one. After the third diving stop, he became especially demonstrative — nodding his head and sticking out his tongue toward his cheering teammates at midfield.
“He’s done extremely well. He’s worked extremely hard," said Diego Luna, who scored his first international goal for the U.S. in the first half. “These are the type of moments that we live for.”
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United States goalkeeper Matthew Freese (25) is congratulated after he saved enough Costa Rica penalty kicks for his team to prevail in a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals soccer match Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP)
United States goalkeeper Matthew Freese (25) stops a shot during the second half of a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals soccer match against Costa Rica, Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
United States goalkeeper Matthew Freese, front right, reacts toward the crowd after he saved enough Costa Rica penalty kicks for his team to prevail in a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals soccer match Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP)
United States goalkeeper Matthew Freese (25) grabs a corner kick after Costa Rica defender Francisco Calvo (15) missed heading it in the second half of a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals soccer match Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP)
A group of Buddhist monks and their rescue dog are striding single file down country roads and highways across the South, captivating Americans nationwide and inspiring droves of locals to greet them along their route.
In their flowing saffron and ocher robes, the men are walking for peace. It's a meditative tradition more common in South Asian countries, and it's resonating now in the U.S., seemingly as a welcome respite from the conflict, trauma and politics dividing the nation.
Their journey began Oct. 26, 2025, at a Vietnamese Buddhist temple in Texas, and is scheduled to end in mid-February in Washington, D.C., where they will ask Congress to recognize Buddha’s day of birth and enlightenment as a federal holiday. Beyond promoting peace, their highest priority is connecting with people along the way.
“My hope is, when this walk ends, the people we met will continue practicing mindfulness and find peace,” said the Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara, the group’s soft-spoken leader who is making the trek barefoot. He teaches about mindfulness, forgiveness and healing at every stop.
Preferring to sleep each night in tents pitched outdoors, the monks have been surprised to see their message transcend ideologies, drawing huge crowds into churchyards, city halls and town squares across six states. Documenting their journey on social media, they — and their dog, Aloka — have racked up millions of followers online. On Saturday, thousands thronged in Columbia, South Carolina, where the monks chanted on the steps of the State House and received a proclamation from the city's mayor, Daniel Rickenmann.
At their stop Thursday in Saluda, South Carolina, Audrie Pearce joined the crowd lining Main Street. She had driven four hours from her village of Little River, and teared up as Pannakara handed her a flower.
“There’s something traumatic and heart-wrenching happening in our country every day,” said Pearce, who describes herself as spiritual, but not religious. “I looked into their eyes and I saw peace. They’re putting their bodies through such physical torture and yet they radiate peace.”
Hailing from Theravada Buddhist monasteries across the globe, the 19 monks began their 2,300 mile (3,700 kilometer) trek at the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth.
Their journey has not been without peril. On Nov. 19, as the monks were walking along U.S. Highway 90 near Dayton, Texas, their escort vehicle was hit by a distracted truck driver, injuring two monks. One of them lost his leg, reducing the group to 18.
This is Pannakara's first trek in the U.S., but he's walked across several South Asian countries, including a 112-day journey across India in 2022 where he first encountered Aloka, an Indian Pariah dog whose name means divine light in Sanskrit.
Then a stray, the dog followed him and other monks from Kolkata in eastern India all the way to the Nepal border. At one point, he fell critically ill and Pannakara scooped him up in his arms and cared for him until he recovered. Now, Aloka inspires him to keep going when he feels like giving up.
“I named him light because I want him to find the light of wisdom,” Pannakara said.
The monk's feet are now heavily bandaged because he's stepped on rocks, nails and glass along the way. His practice of mindfulness keeps him joyful despite the pain from these injuries, he said.
Still, traversing the southeast United States has presented unique challenges, and pounding pavement day after day has been brutal.
“In India, we can do shortcuts through paddy fields and farms, but we can’t do that here because there are a lot of private properties,” Pannakara said. “But what’s made it beautiful is how people have welcomed and hosted us in spite of not knowing who we are and what we believe.”
In Opelika, Alabama, the Rev. Patrick Hitchman-Craig hosted the monks on Christmas night at his United Methodist congregation.
He expected to see a small crowd, but about 1,000 people showed up, creating the feel of a block party. The monks seemed like the Magi, he said, appearing on Christ’s birthday.
“Anyone who is working for peace in the world in a way that is public and sacrificial is standing close to the heart of Jesus, whether or not they share our tradition,” said Hitchman-Craig. “I was blown away by the number of people and the diversity of who showed up.”
After their night on the church lawn, the monks arrived the next afternoon at the Collins Farm in Cusseta, Alabama. Judy Collins Allen, whose father and brother run the farm, said about 200 people came to meet the monks — the biggest gathering she’s ever witnessed there.
“There was a calm, warmth and sense of community among people who had not met each other before and that was so special,” she said.
Long Si Dong, a spokesperson for the Fort Worth temple, said the monks, when they arrive in Washington, plan to seek recognition of Vesak, the day which marks the birth and enlightenment of the Buddha, as a national holiday.
“Doing so would acknowledge Vesak as a day of reflection, compassion and unity for all people regardless of faith,” he said.
But Pannakara emphasized that their main goal is to help people achieve peace in their lives. The trek is also a separate endeavor from a $200 million campaign to build towering monuments on the temple’s 14-acre property to house the Buddha’s teachings engraved in stone, according to Dong.
The monks practice and teach Vipassana meditation, an ancient Indian technique taught by the Buddha himself as core for attaining enlightenment. It focuses on the mind-body connection — observing breath and physical sensations to understand reality, impermanence and suffering. Some of the monks, including Pannakara, walk barefoot to feel the ground directly and be present in the moment.
Pannakara has told the gathered crowds that they don't aim to convert people to Buddhism.
Brooke Schedneck, professor of religion at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, said the tradition of a peace walk in Theravada Buddhism began in the 1990s when the Venerable Maha Ghosananda, a Cambodian monk, led marches across war-torn areas riddled with landmines to foster national healing after civil war and genocide in his country.
“These walks really inspire people and inspire faith,” Schedneck said. “The core intention is to have others watch and be inspired, not so much through words, but through how they are willing to make this sacrifice by walking and being visible.”
On Thursday, Becki Gable drove nearly 400 miles (about 640 kilometers) from Cullman, Alabama, to catch up with them in Saluda. Raised Methodist, Gable said she wanted some release from the pain of losing her daughter and parents.
“I just felt in my heart that this would help me have peace,” she said. “Maybe I could move a little bit forward in my life.”
Gable says she has already taken one of Pannakara’s teachings to heart. She’s promised herself that each morning, as soon as she awakes, she’d take a piece of paper and write five words on it, just as the monk prescribed.
“Today is my peaceful day.”
Freelance photojournalist Allison Joyce contributed to this report.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," get lunch Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Aloka rests with Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
A sign is seen greeting the Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Supporters pray with Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Supporters watch Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
A Buddhist monk ties a prayer bracelet around the wrist of Josey Lee, 2-months-old, during the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Bhikkhu Pannakara, a spiritual leader, speaks to supporters during the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Buddhist monks participate in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Buddhist monks participate in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Bhikkhu Pannakara leads other buddhist monks in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Audrie Pearce greets Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Bhikkhu Pannakara, a spiritual leader, speaks to supporters during the, "Walk For Peace," Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," arrive in Saluda, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
Buddhist monks who are participating in the, "Walk For Peace," are seen with their dog, Aloka, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Saluda, S.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)
