It’s been a historical year for FC Dallas forward Jesús Ferreira. The 21-year-old star recently took home the FC Dallas Offensive Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year award. Those team awards came after he received 2022 MLS Young Player of the Year honors and receiving the No. 1 ranking in MLSsoccer.com’s 2022 22 Under 22.

He’ll look forward to carrying that momentum into the World Cup when the U.S. opener against Wales next Monday. For our readers that don’t know the importance the World Cup carries,

Jesús Ferreira put the value of the tournament in very simple terms.

“I think any player or kid that plays soccer, their dream is to play in a World Cup one day, and to represent their country,” Ferreira said. “That’s an opportunity that we have this year. I think the World Cup is one of the biggest tournaments that exists in our time, and it’s something that a lot of people watch.”

Muscle and Fitness spoke with Jesús Ferreira on the key preparation for him ahead of the World Cup, bouncing back from a one goal and one assist season in 2020, how his partnership with Cheribundi makes life easier and the other changes he’s made to be at his best on the pitch.

IT’S ALL MENTAL FOR JESUS FERREIRA

It’s more of preparing yourself mentally about what’s next. The World Cup is one of the biggest tournaments and everyone needs to be focused 100 percent to be able to perform at the highest level. It’s just mentally preparing yourself because it’s going to be tough. Each team in the World Cup is there for a reason. They’re there because they’re good enough to be in the World Cup. It doesn’t matter the name or the players, it’s how the teams are going to perform. For us, obviously, the US is a young team. But with a lot of energy and hunger to win things. We’re ready to play any game against anybody to show we belong in the World Cup, and we can compete against anyone.

Obviously, there’s comments, posts all over social media. For me, it’s knowing that the most important thing is the coaches and the people around me. Their opinions are the ones that matter, and that’s how I kind of go about staying focused. Whatever the coach has to tell me, that’s what I’m going to work on. If I have to do something different, that’s what I’ll do. Otherwise, I’ll keep doing what I know how to do and keep playing soccer the way I know how to and continue performing.

JESUS FERREIRA BOUNCES BACK FROM A TOUGH YEAR

It was a tough year for me, but I knew that I couldn’t allow that year to repeat itself. I wanted to be a player that could bounce back and perform at the level that I knew that I could perform at. That was scoring goals, getting assists, and helping the team win. I had to change things. I’ve changed diet, getting someone that helps me mentally, and just little things to help my game in the long run. I’m just excited that I can show that I can be a guy that can bounce back from any situation. Having one goal, one assists the whole year and being able to improve that to eight assists the next year is crazy. I’m just happy to show that I can be a player that can take things, learn from them, move on and not dwell and keep getting better.