Jonathan Lewis has had a very good 2019 so far. After being summoned to the U.S. Men’s National Team January camp, he picked up his first two caps for the U.S. Men’s senior side. In those two matches, he’s done something fans of New York City FC have seen him do before. Lewis came off the bench in the second half, drove the ball down the left wing and crossed the ball into an open forward leading to a goal.
Lewis is taking full advantage of the minutes being given to him by the national team and impressing supporters. Despite his quick success with the team, he isn’t getting ahead of himself and has his goals set clearly for him for both club and country.
2 – Jonathan Lewis is just the second American since 2014 to record an assist as a substitute in back-to-back #USMNT matches. Supersub. #USAvCRC pic.twitter.com/vYO56JavxY
— OptaJack⚽️ (@OptaJack) February 2, 2019
In the first two matches under new manager Gregg Berhalter the team has two clean-sheet victories with a total of 5 goals scored. Berhalter has come out showing what a young possession based U.S. can accomplish against CONCACAF teams.
Lewis described his experience as good following the teams’ match against Costa Rica in San Jose. “It was a good experience being in this camp and I think that we came out here to show that we could change American soccer so it was a good experience for me and I think that the team played very well.”
We’ll have to see what lessons the young winger learned from his time with the national team, and more importantly how will he applies what he learned to get more playing time. He already has an idea of what he needs to do to get more time under NYCFC’s Domènec Torrent. “[Berhalter] plays the same style as what we try to play in New York so I think definitely I have to work hard and show what I can do and show the same type of grit that I showed here at the US National team.”
Despite playing a similar style with his club, he doesn’t see himself as having an advantage over his teammates. “I would definitely just think that we’re all just starting with a clean slate and we all started fresh from the start. [Berhalter] is giving us information so it’s all about us just executing it,” said Lewis.
While his performances have been exciting in these last two matches, it remains to be seen if he earns a call back for the next matches against Ecuador and Chile. Lewis himself acknowledged that his performances didn’t guarantee him a spot next time around. “First I need try to make sure I’m playing in New York and playing well and then executing there and then go from there,” he explained.
Both Lewis and keeper Sean Johnson will now join New York City FC for their 2019 pre-season.
[…] (Read more about Jonathan Lewis’ January camp here) […]