Marseille and United States forward Timothy Weah said he doesn't regret calling former players turned critics of the U.S. men's national team "evil" and that he stands by his comments "a hundred percent."
Weah was interviewed for the Paramount+ docuseries "Pulisic," and commented on former USMNT players who had questioned the current team's performances as well as the commitment of players such as Christian Pulisic, who missed this summer's Gold Cup due to fatigue.
"I think those guys are chasing checks, and for me I just feel like they're really evil," Weah said in an episode released last month.
"They've been players, and they know what it's like when you're getting bashed. Those are the same guys that'll turn around and shake your hand and try to be friendly with you at the end of the day. Don't get me wrong, I respect all of them. They were players I looked up to.
"But quite frankly, the guys before us didn't win anything either. ... Christian himself has had a better career than every single one of the guys that speak negative on us."
Asked during Thursday's media availability if he thought the term "evil" was accurate and if he would use a different word now, Weah said, "[I] don't regret anything I said."
The camp is Weah's first since the Concacaf Nations League finals last March. He sat out the Gold Cup due to duties with previous club Juventus at the Club World Cup.
He added that he is now looking ahead to upcoming friendlies against South Korea on Saturday and then Japan three days later.
"I'm fully focused on the positives now," Weah said. "I'm leaving all that negative energy out the window. I think right now it's important to kind of shift the focus to what we're doing as a group, and what this team is doing, and how we can execute performances and kind of take our game to that next level in order to be prepared for the World Cup.
"And I'm a hundred percent focused on that and if that means blacking out all the noise, that's what we're going to have to do. And yeah, we're just focused on what our main goal is and we're here at each camp trying to build and I'm so happy to be back with the boys."
Weah joined Marseille on loan from Juventus last month, though the move is expected to become permanent.
His first few months with the club, one that his father George also played for, has been eventful.
A locker room fight between Adrien Rabiot and Jon Rowe made headlines, but Weah said he's enjoying his time there.
"The club is everything to the city, everything to the fans," Weah said about Marseille. "I mean they eat, sleep, breathe, football; eat, sleep, breathe Marseille. So it is a special one when you play for a club like Marseille. You know what it means to them. It is their heart and soul. So you have to give a hundred percent.
"Even if we lose a game, they're on us. So yeah, it is super intense. I mean just the group alone, we get into so much fights together in trainings, in the locker rooms that people think we're crazy at times, but it's just because everyone is so passionate."
U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino left some players like Atlético Madrid's Johnny Cardoso and Borussia Mönchengladbach's Giovanni Reyna off the current U.S. roster because they had recently changed clubs.
But Weah said he was determined to take part in his international window.
"I never thought about not coming into camp," he said. "I think the national team is also a priority to me as well.
"So coming here, being with the group, and kind of building up on what we already have, and fine tuning a lot of things for me is important because at the end of the day, the goal is nine months away. We have to perform and be on top of our game. So any chance I get to come in and kind of build with these guys, I'm a hundred percent for it. So I'm always here."