FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — When Zavier Gozo , 19 years old and living outside Utah for the first time in his life, seeks familiarity or comfort in his new locale of London, he doesn't have to go far.
"We live across the street," Chris Richards said. "My [toddler] daughter is infatuated with him."
Gozo, the winger called into his first U.S. national team camp this week, called it "a mini family right across the street," helping him adjust to Crystal Palace , where he and Richards became teammates upon his transfer to the Premier League club this summer.
Crystal Palace's Zavier Gozo applauds fans after hist team's Premier League match to Ipswich Town at Selhurst Park in London on Sept. 12, 2026. REUTERS
After Gozo's run with Real Salt Lake that put him in consideration to make the U.S. World Cup roster, the English game has been a major step up. Gozo has yet to start for Palace's senior team, making only a few appearances off the bench so far. That, he says, is not only OK, but it was also very much the expectation upon making the leap across the pond.
"I think moving over there as quick as possible would be the best thing for me," Gozo said Thursday before the national team traveled to Orlando , where it will face Peru on Saturday. "Even if I'm not starting immediately, you don't expect to go from MLS to the Premier League and start, win the Golden Boot or be the best player in the league.
"It was just about development for me and being in a high-level environment every day. Coming in and going from being one of the best players on my team in the MLS and going back to being the worst player on the team again."
That, for the record, is a harsh self-assessment, but the point he tried to make stands: It's healthy to go into such an environment, especially for a player who looked like he'd outgrown MLS.
An initial step back in playing time is, in his mind, more than a worthy trade-off — and his presence outside Atlanta this week is proof that the move has only helped his standing with the national team.
Like Palace, that's a step up too. Gozo is trying to soak it all in. And, like every other teenager getting a shot at this camp, he's trying to prove he belongs.
Morocco's Ali Maamar and Zavier Gozo fight for the ball during the United States' FIFA U-20 World Cup quarterfinal loss at the El Teniente Stadium in Rancagua, Chile on Oct. 12, 2025. AFP via Getty Images
"It's been amazing, from knowing that I'm getting called up to being here and being with everyone. Obviously players I've looked up to for a while," he said. "I feel like it's been kind of surreal, but also, I want to play with the national team and compete for a spot here too."
