Brian Schwake took the long road to Nashville. Now he’s making a USMNT push

It takes around eight hours to drive from Chicago to Nashville. There are more than a dozen direct flights each day that will get you there in 90 minutes. But Brian Schwake went the long way, getting to Nashville via Scotland and Spain with an absolutely crucial detour in Luxembourg of all places.

It wasn't efficient, but the Nashville SC goalkeeper is glad he did it.

"There is a pathway in the U.S., but I just knew it wasn't going to work for me," he told USA TODAY Sports.

Things are working for him now. After making the journey to Tennessee in 2025, Schwake earned the starting job in 2026 after a year as the cup goalkeeper.

Now, he has helped Nashville SC become the Supporters' Shield favorite, topping the MLS leaderboard in clean sheets (11), save percentage (78.5%) and in wonkier stats like a league-best goals-xG number of .66, according to American Soccer Analytics. That works to measure how many goals a keeper has given up verses what you'd expect given the quality of shots they've faced.

He needs six clean sheets in the last 11 matches to break Tony Meola's single-season MLS record of 16.

Calls for U.S.

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/sports/