SI:AM | U.S. Soccer Finally Sends Gregg Berhalter Packing

The next coach will have their work cut out for them with limited time before the next World Cup.

Berhalter’s time with U.S. Soccer is up. / Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’m exceptionally jealous of everyone who got to celebrate England’s victory while The Killers played at the O2 Arena in London.

In today’s SI:AM:

👋 Berhalter out
🏆 The next five Super Bowl champs
🌵 Another blow for hockey in the desert

Jürgen Klopp next?

American soccer fans finally got what they’ve been clamoring for when Gregg Berhalter was fired as the coach of the U.S. men’s national team Wednesday.

Berhalter managed the team for nearly six years, beginning in December 2018. He was chosen to lead the team into the qualification cycle for the ’22 World Cup after the U.S.’s stunning failure to qualify for the ’18 tournament under coaches Jürgen Klinsmann and Bruce Arena. In that regard, Berhalter succeeded. The Americans qualified for the tournament in Qatar and advanced out of the group stage before losing to the Netherlands in the round of 16. But there were questions about whether Berhalter should have been allowed to continue leading the squad after Qatar. Very few national team coaches are given the opportunity to stick around for a second World Cup cycle, and when the crowning achievement of your national team career is a 0–0 draw against England in the World Cup group stage, it’s easy to understand why fans would want to dream bigger.

Berhalter’s position with the national team became more fraught when the parents of USMNT player Gio Reyna attempted to retaliate against the coach for the lack of playing time their son received in Qatar by disclosing a decades-old incident between Berhalter and his now-wife to U.S. Soccer officials. Berhalter later admitted that he kicked his wife, Rosalind, during an argument at a bar in 1992 when they were students at the University of North Carolina. (Rosalind and Danielle Reyna were teammates and roommates at UNC.) Berhalter said he sought counseling after the incident and has never acted violently toward Rosalind since. Berhalter’s contract expired after the 2022 World Cup, but he was re-hired after U.S. Soccer conducted an investigation into the incident the Reynas disclosed.

Bringing Berhalter back was at least a defensible decision at the time, even if it wasn’t a slam dunk. He’d compiled a record of 37–12–11 to that point with 118 goals scored and 40 allowed. There were concerns about the team’s lack of offensive creativity, but the USMNT had managed to win more often than not. That wasn’t the case after Berhalter was re-hired. He managed 14 games in his second stint, winning seven and losing six with one draw. The first four of those wins came against Uzbekistan, Oman, Ghana and Trinidad and Tobago, all currently ranked outside the top 60 in the world. The U.S. also lost games in the past nine months against Trinidad and Tobago (No. 99 in the FIFA rankings), Slovenia (No. 57) and Panama (No. 43).

The Panama loss on June 27 derailed the U.S.’s highly anticipated Copa America campaign and it was officially eliminated from the tournament with an uninspired loss to Uruguay on July 1 that intensified calls for Berhalter to be fired.

Now the federation faces the extremely critical task of appointing the right coach to lead the USMNT into the most important tournament in its history—the 2026 World Cup on home soil. U.S. Soccer is setting its sights high, having already made “initial contact” with former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, The Independent’s Miguel Delaney reports. Other names being bandied about include former Chelsea manager Mauricio Pocchettino and Thierry Henry, who’s set to coach the French men’s team at the upcoming Olympics. LA Galaxy coach Steve Cherundolo and Wilfried Nancy, the French manager of the Columbus Crew, are some less high-profile coaches who could also make sense.

Whoever U.S. Soccer decides to hire, they will have their work cut out for them building a winning team ahead of the next World Cup. This summer’s Copa America was supposed to be a sort of mini World Cup, playing on home soil against quality teams from South America. But now the team will be starting over with only one major competition (next summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup, a much smaller tournament than the Copa America) between now and the World Cup. The new coach will have only 11 international windows until the World Cup kicks off. They’ll have to hit the ground running.

Expectations remain very high in Baltimore. / Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

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The top five…

… things I saw yesterday:

5. Trent Grisham’s running catch in center to save a run in the eighth inning of a 2–1 game.
4. Michael Kopech’s immaculate inning to pick up the save for the White Sox.
3. A’ja Wilson’s 24-point, 20-rebound game, the 21st 20–20 game in WNBA history.
2. Victor Wembanyama’s block in practice with his back to the ball.
1. The scene at The Killers’ concert in London after England beat the Netherlands to advance to the Euro final.