SI

Fox's Copa America Postgame Show Painted an Appropriately Bleak Picture

Kyle Koster

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Gregg Berhalter's reign over the United States Men's National Team continues to frustrate American soccer fans as the so-called "golden generation" was bounced from Copa América with a 1-0 loss to Uruguay on Monday night. Meaningful success feels as far away as the unconventional camera angle employed for most of the game, which presumably was affixed to some sort of satellite orbiting the Earth. In a truly remarkable bit of producing, the broadcast seemed to catch the embattled manager not only scoreboard-watching but passing on the score of the Panama-Bolivia match mere seconds before the U.S. conceded from sloppy set-piece defense.

Late in the proceedings, when it became clear the host nation needed two goals in a matter of minutes to stave off elimination, a general sense of existential dread set in for diehards and casuals alike. This group and its leadership have underachieved and there are precious few reasons for optimism with a World Cup on home soil looming on 2026.

Berhalter's future was on everyone's mind and that created a must-watch postgame on FS1. Rob Stone, Carli Lloyd, Clint Dempsey and Alexi Lalas were up to the unenviable task of delivering some sobering truths. They squared the circle of operating in reality without leaning into pounding on the table demanding Berhalter's job. And in a way, that was more effective than summoning the pitchforks.

Lalas led off.

"This is not good enough from Gregg Berhalter," he said. "We can't afford to be embarrassed, and we can't afford to arrive in the summer of 2026 with a team that has not progressed, that has not evolved, and has not improved."

Dempsey, who looked like he'd been grinding glass for the previous 90 minutes, pointed out that momentum has ground to a halt and may, in fact, be going backward.

"Where have we come since 2022?" he asked. "You qualify for the World Cup, get out of the group. Where have we progressed? We haven't, to Alexi's point. This is our Golden Generation and it looks like we're wasting it."

Stone mentioned that he spent a majority of his time in the studio watching the Panama-Bolivia match because he knew the Americans didn't have it would be relying on Bolivia to do them a solid. Lloyd wondered allowed if all the kumbaya might actually be a bad thing as it's translated to very little on-pitch success.

"We won championships and we hated our coaches," she said. "I'm not saying you have to hate your coach, but I question how comfortable it is inside that locker room."

The whole show was appropriately dour. It was cathartic for viewers to not have things sugarcoated and for there to be an honest airing of grievances Frank Costanza could appreciate. Everyone hoping for more probably still feels like garbage this morning but for a few minutes it was nice to sit in shared misery.

The question now is if public pressure, combined with the high-profile rumblings, will have any impact on what the federation decides to do. Considering the passion they've shown in hiring and rehiring and sticking by Berhalter independent of results, no one hoping for a change should be holding their breath. But they shouldn't be holding their tongues either.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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