Chris Richards praised him for being the unlikely American to be the second American to compete and win the FA Cup final on Saturday after Alabama native helped Stun Manchester 1-0 at Wembley Stadium in London.

Richards joined Tim Howard, who canceled the trophy with Manchester United in 2004 as the Americans won the world's oldest national football match. Richards's Palace and U.S. teammate Matt Turner are an unused alternative but become the third-place U.S. champion.

"That means a lot," he told ESPN. "I mean, I want to grow up, I've never seen the FA Cup. I'm from Alabama, so we definitely don't have that on TV.

"So, not only can it be done for Americans, but for the kids who are back here to play. I think that means the world to me."

Richards is a big part of the back line of Crystal Palace, scoring only one goal in six games on the way to the club's first major trophy.

"We're just trying to keep it once at once," he added. "We didn't have the first 15 minutes of the ball touching. So we're just thinking if we could do our job and then have them put a ball or two in front of them, that's exactly what we're going to do."

"And I think our first attack was what we scored. So I mean, we were a very nervous team. Starting yelling from the front, so all 11 games (from today) are part of the clean sheet."

In front of more than 84,000 spectators, the palace headed to Eberechi Eze in the 16th minute to sweep the cross from the box to Daniel Muñoz from his box while he was taking a quick break.

If Omar Marmoush takes a free throw in the first half to improve the score, the results may be different, but his efforts are driven by Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

"I think if you told us that at the beginning of the season, they wouldn't believe it," Richards said. "But it's just a lot of dedication, a lot of hard work, a long day on the training ground."

Richards now have enough expectations for the next few months. The glory of the FA Cup means the Palace will enter the Europa League next season, and he will expect to be part of Mauricio Pochettino's U.S. men's national team, who are trying to win the Golden Cup this summer.

"Let's win the trophy with the national team this summer, and we'll have some big games next season, so hopefully we can continue with the trophy for a season," he said.

“I think it’s a very ambitious team, I think (the manager) has come in and he’s been ambitious since day one.