Bye-Bye Berhalter? USMNT Crashes Out of Copa Amid Familiar Woes
Hi there! The USMNT's Copa America dreams went up in smoke last night with a 1-0 loss to Uruguay, raising the familiar specter of coach Gregg Berhalter's job security. Is it finally time to go?
So the USA crashed out of Copa America last night, losing 1-0 to Uruguay - here’s the full highlights from Fox. (Shorter version from CONMEBOL if you are geo-blocked is here)
Of course, the big question now is when whether coach Gregg Berhalter will be fired?
Matt Crocker, Sporting Director of US Soccer (ie Berhalter’s boss) opted to put out a quick statement:
“Our tournament performance fell short of our expectations. We must do better. We will be conducting a comprehensive review of our performance in Copa America and how best to improve the team and results as we look towards the 2026 World Cup.”
The last time Crocker conducted a review of the USMNT, it included a ‘global search’ for a new head coach and concluded that re-hiring Berhalter was the best option. The odds on that being his conclusion again are surely slim.
Jeff Carlisle at ESPN says Crocker’s statement sounds familiar: This sounds suspiciously similar to the process that was used after the U.S. women were bounced from the Women's World Cup last year in the round of 16, its earliest World Cup exit. A few weeks later, then-manager Vlatko Andonovski resigned. It won't be a surprise if Berhalter suffers a similar outcome.
When Crocker re-hired Berhalter last year, it came after strong public statements backing the coach from leading players on the team. But as Henry Bushnell notes, the words of support seemed a little less forceful last night :Pulisic, the captain and Berhalter’s most influential endorser last spring, said: “I mean, look, we have a good relationship with him. And, whatever the next step looks like, that's not my job to decide.”
Doug McIntyre at Fox Sports wonders who might be candidates if Berhalter gets Crocked:
The problem for Crocker is this: If he does decide to go in a different direction, who does he hire? Berhalter beat out former Bundesliga and Premier League manager Jesse Marsch for the job last June, but Marsch is no longer available after being snapped up by Canada last month and promptly leading them into the Copa América quarterfinals. There are not a lot of obvious candidates who would definitely be better than Berhalter and who would also take the job. There's risk involved with making a change, too.
No other candidates for the job of leading the USA in the 2026 World Cup than Jesse Marsch and Gregg Berhalter? Really?
EURO 2024 Round-up
Where to watch: all TV broadcasters around the globe from UEFA
There aren’t many players you can put in the same bracket as Ronaldo, but John Terry is one of them. That bracket being ‘arsehole narcissist’. So, it comes as no surprise that ‘teammate wife shagger’ and ‘team limelight thief’, Terry, would be outraged at the BBC social media intern adding ‘Misstiano Penaldo’ at the bottom of the replay screen after Ronaldo had his spot-kick saved in the 114th minute of extra-time. Not that our John is bemoaning the dumbing down of journalistic standards in a bid to remain relevant.
No, John Terry knows what it’s like to miss a clutch penalty, and like all good narcissist footballers never misses an opportunity to make it about themselves. He’s also another captain prone to start bawling. But, least Terry appeared to have tear ducts:
Oh, mate….
But Portugal, who have Diogo Costa to thank after he saved Slovenia’s first three penalties, meet France in the quarter-finals in what should be a truly drab encounter after an own goal in the 85th minute saw them beat Belgium 1-0. [SLOvPOR Highlights] [FRAvBEL Highlights]
Today sees the final two quarter-finalists confirmed as Romania take on the Netherlands and Austria meet Turkiye. Your commentators on Fox:
ROMANIA vs. NETHERLANDS: Jacqui Oatley / Warren Barton - 12pm ET
AUSTRIA vs. TÜRKIYE: Darren Fletcher / Owen Hargreaves - 3pm ET
COPA America Round-up
In the other Group C encounter, Panama beat Bolivia 3-1 to finish runners-up to Uruguay, both group games turning after Gregg Berhalter signaled to his players it was 1-1. [Highlights]
Yes, the ref was woeful in the USA v Uruguay game, but there might be a good reason why Kevin Ortega didn’t shake Pulisic’s hand after he motioned to the officials after the game to go and join the Uruguay team’s celebrations.
And tonight, we find out the last quarter-finalists in the Copa as Costa Rica face Paraguay, and Colombia take on Brazil to see who tops Group D.
In Other Soccer News
Transfers:
The Guardian’s interactive transfer thing.
Stat(s) of the Day
Ronaldo has attempted 58 shots from direct free-kicks at major tournaments, and scored just one.
France have had 66 shots, scored no goals from open play, and are in the quarter-finals.
USMNT is the first host nation not to make the knockout rounds of Copa America (since the tournament format change in 1987).
The Daily Soccer Quote of the Day
"Thirty-nine-year-old plays 120 minutes, he misses a penalty and I've got to say, I bought into all that 'Ronaldo has turned into a team player because he needs the team more than he used to’.’"
“I bought into that nonsense as well, but I think he showed his true colours again tonight. Missing the penalty, he starts crying on the pitch, he starts crying at half-time in extra-time. And I'm thinking 'it's all about you'.”
"There's a squad of 26 players, there's 20 staff, there's 30 or 40,000 fans in there, it's not about you. You try to be neutral, but I was cheering Slovenia on because I though the reaction was embarrassing, I thought it was out of order.” - Dietmar Hamann
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