"I think I'm just a lot more optimistic than maybe I was as a player," Morgan told GOAL.
In a separate appearance on SportsCenter on Tuesday, Morgan defined the baseline expectation for the American squad during the tournament.
"I was always trying to tune out the noise, but obviously, seeing all the criticism come, it's really hard to just not look," Morgan told GOAL.
Morgan explained that the squad should capitalize on the home-field advantage and the tournament experience retained by half of the current selection.
"I think that making it to the Round of 16 is probably kind of the threshold for this team," Morgan said on SportsCenter.
USMNT attacker Christian Pulisic provided his perspective on evaluating the team's success during a prior discussion with Newsweek.
"If we make it there, and we advance, that's a huge success.
If we make it there and we don't [advance], I wouldn't say that it's a failure by any means," Morgan said on SportsCenter.
Pulisic underscored that personal and collective effort serves as his primary measurement for a successful campaign rather than a specific round placement.
"But I think that that's kind of like the threshold where, like, OK, we're in the U. S.
They have that momentum that they should feel — the excitement and that 12th man energy — so now it's kind of leaning into that.
And also, using the previous World Cups from those 13 players to be like, 'OK, we've been here; we've done this before.
