United States men's national team head coach Gregg Berhalter has confessed that his squad received a serious "wake-up call" after being trounced 5-1 by Colombia on Saturday night.
In their second-to-last friendly before the Copa America, the USMNT was thoroughly outplayed by Colombia at FedEx Field, which is usually home to the NFL team Washington Commanders. With a match against Brazil looming on Wednesday in their final warm-up, concerns are mounting about the team's readiness and Berhalter's leadership.
Facing tough questions at his postgame press conference, Berhalter was open about the team performance and his responsibility. "We're not framing it as a lesson learned. We're actually framing it as a wake-up call," he stated.
"Really poor performance against a top team. From the 75th minute on, it was I think a lack of respect for our opponent, the game of soccer, and what we were doing."
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He continued: "There are some glaring things that you have to address if you're going to compete at this level. Guys just didn't do their job. It's about your role, your responsibility and we didn't do that. We take responsibility as a coaching staff, for sure. We can't put this all on the players. This game will help us understand that when we don't do the things we're supposed to do, we'll get hurt really quickly."
Matt Turner, the goalkeeper for the USMNT and Nottingham Forest, apologised to fans for the team's underwhelming performance. During his TNT Sports interview, he suggested that the squad requires self-reflection: "Everyone needs to look in the mirror after that game and figure it out because, obviously, we weren't to the level that's required.
"I'm going to apologize to the fans. That's not what we're about. And, yeah, we need to bounce back in a big way." Berhalter initially lost his coaching role after leading the USMNT to the Round of 16 at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
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Despite their early exit at the hands of the Netherlands, the most newsworthy issue was Berhalter's dispute with player Giovanni Reyna. The saga eventually concluded when Berhalter was reinstated in June 2023, to steer the USMNT through to the World Cup in 2026 - set to occur in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Berhalter fielded the youngest starting line-up at the 2022 World Cup. Expectations are high, with U.S. Soccer pinning hopes on this young cohort. However, doubts linger over whether Berhalter is up to the task.
Since first taking on the role of USMNT head coach in 2018, Berhalter's record consists of five victories, seven draws, and six losses against countries within FIFA's top-20 rankings. This may seem steady, but the stand-out fact is that four of those wins came against Mexico - the other was against Iran.
In the Copa America, the USMNT finds itself in a group with Bolivia, Panama and Uruguay. The squad is tipped to at least progress from the group stages. However, with heavyweights like Colombia, Brazil and Argentina also vying for the title, the USMNT will inevitably face a formidable adversary should they make it through the knockout stages.
The recent defeat has understandably raised eyebrows, and Berhalter will be keen to see his team bounce back in the Copa America to reassure their supporters. The upcoming match against Brazil on Wednesday presents the USMNT with an excellent opportunity to prove their mettle, but another significant loss could dent the team's morale ahead of the tournament.