Gregg Berhalter gives blunt answer about his USMNT future amid calls for coach to be fired after disastrous Copa America group-stage exit
Gregg Berhalter responded bluntly when questioned about his future as head coach of the U.S. national team following their dramatic elimination from the Copa America on Monday night.
A miserable 1-0 defeat to Uruguay was the final nail in the coffin for Berhalter’s men at the Arrowhead Stadium, while elsewhere Panama beat Bolivia 3-1 to eliminate the home side in the group stage.
Two years before the World Cup on home soil, their poor performance at this summer’s tournament – which included a surprise 2-1 defeat to Panama – was a harsh confrontation with reality, making calls for Berhalter’s sacking as coach even louder.
During his post-match press conference, the US coach was asked whether he still believes he is the right man to lead the team ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Gregg Berhalter gave a blunt response when asked about his future as USMNT head coach
A miserable 1-0 defeat to Uruguay saw Berhalter’s US team eliminated from the Copa America
Berhalter replied simply, “Yes.”
After a bright start in Kansas City, Berhalter watched his team slowly deteriorate as the game progressed, until Mathias Olivera scored the winning goal for Uruguay with 24 minutes left.
There was a glimmer of hope for the US when Bolivia briefly drew against Panama. In the end, however, Panama won with ease. Even a draw against efficient Uruguay would not have been enough.
“Just when you see the faces of the guys in the locker room and the emotions of the staff and the players, we are deeply disappointed with the results,” Berhalter said at the opening of his press conference.
“We know we are capable of more, but we didn’t show it in this tournament. It’s as simple as that.”
“You look at the stage that was set with the fans in this tournament, with the high level of competition in this tournament and we should have done better. We will do an evaluation and find out what went wrong and why it went wrong, but it is definitely an empty feeling now.”
When asked by Mail Sport if he has any concerns about his position as coach, the 50-year-old replied: ‘Well, I’m not happy with the results of the tournament, that’s for sure.
‘That is the expectation that we have first of all, to do better than we did. And we are bitterly disappointed about that.
“The other things that are out of my control are not something to spend a lot of time on. For me it’s about how do we keep getting better, how do we keep improving and how do we deal with the lack of performance in this tournament?”
American midfielder Tyler Adams defended Berhalter after the match, emphasizing that the team wants to stand behind their head coach at a time when it is needed most.
“I have absolute confidence in him,” Adams said when asked if he still believes Berhalter is the right man to take them forward.
Berhalter is under immense pressure to keep his job as head coach after the bitter blow
But Tyler Adams insists the team will stand behind him despite their group stage elimination
“We’ve got the game plan in place and the guys have to follow the game plan. But football, at the end of the day… you have to be able to find solutions on the pitch as well.
“He has stayed with us in many difficult moments, I think we will stay with him too. I think that is important.”
“He actually told us in the dressing room that we were not out of this game today, and I think everyone knows that,” he added.
‘The game where we dropped points and made a mistake was Panama.’