Alex Freeman: Team USA star guard and TikTok's "little brother Diamond"

SEATTLE — To millions of Americans, Alex Freeman is a rising soccer star who made his World Cup debut last week. He is only 21 years old and performed well in the first match against Paraguay. The versatile defender will be a key player for the USA in their upcoming clash with Australia at Lumen Field. However, on TikTok he is known as "little brother Diamond." Scrolling through the comments under his recent posts reveals many fans who didn't even know about Freeman a week ago. One wrote: "We're so proud of the person you've become in the last 72 hours!" When Freeman was interviewed a few days after the World Cup opened, the U.S. host. Soccer began: “Today I am in the company of little brother Diamond!” Freeman beamed with happiness. He realizes that he has become an internet sensation, but not because of his games or his strong defense. According to his older sister Diamond Spalding, it all started with a harmless comment. She was on her way to the Houston Fan Fest last Friday when she came across a TikTok video that said, "Well, looks like we have a soccer team and we're playing in the World Cup." Spaulding, whose name on TikTok is simply Diamond, decided to educate viewers. “My little brother plays for the USA so cheer for #16,” she wrote. “I was so excited to tell people he was playing at the World Cup,” she says a week later.After returning from the festival, she found her phone flooded with notifications, and thousands of TikTok users had chosen "little brother Diamond" as their favorite US soccer player.

Even though his name has now become known, it has taken on a life of its own. Spaulding wrote to Freeman: "Looks like you've gone viral." Freeman didn't realize it right away, but then he went on TikTok and saw his popularity grow. The number of subscribers doubled. The posts, made in late May and early June, began to fill with comments in which users abbreviated his new nickname. “Hey DLB,” one wrote, “we’re so excited to support you and your friends on Team USA.” Diamond found it fun and meaningful for those who aren't that interested in football. “I think we're bringing more attention to the United States,” Freeman said in an interview. Spaulding also began creating new branded clothing for Freeman. Together with a friend, she invented T-shirts with the words “DLB” and “LITTLE BROTHER AMERICA.” She and a friend even created a sales website. Now Spaulding is trying to introduce TikTok users to Freeman, who is the youngest player on the U.S. World Cup team. “Calling him little brother Diamond is funny. But guys, his name is Alex,” she jokes in one of the videos.Interestingly, even before he became a star, Freeman was known as "little Brother Diamond" while growing up in South Florida. Diamond was a track star who attended Texas A&M. Alex, eight years younger, admired her. But Freeman soon became a famous football player himself. He joined the youth club Weston FC and then joined the academy of MLS club Orlando City. In his first full season in MLS, he became a member of the US national team and never looked back. Now he's the starting fullback for the team that crushed Paraguay in his World Cup debut in what became the most-watched soccer game in U.S. history.