Thursday was supposed to be destined to have the 2023 Concacaf Nations League as the focal point. The USMNT had to face Mexico in the semifinals of the competition they won in 2021. However, Greg Berhalter’s replacement was another huge topic to talk about.
The USMNT has been playing under interim head coaches since Berhalter’s contract expired following the World Cup. Anthony Hudson was the first name that led the team, but it was B.J. Callahan who coached the team in the Concacaf Nations League.
With the Gold Cup on the horizon, the United States couldn’t remain without a full-time coach. The expectation was that U.S. Soccer was going to announce their decision on Friday morning, something that was spoiled by multiple reports during the game.
Greg Berhalter returns as USMNT’s coach
There were several candidates that had a chance to get the coaching job. Two big names were Jesse Marsch and Patrick Vieira, but U.S. Soccer went with a known commodity. Greg Berhalter is set to return as USMNT’s coach, according to Paul Tenorio and Pablo Maurer of The Athletic.
The decision to not automatically extend Berhalter’s contract after it expired wasn’t related to the World Cup performance. The United States finished second in the group behind England and lost to the Netherlands in the round of 16. However, the youth of the team sparked some hopes of a potential growth for the future. What created plenty of chaos around the head coach was an off-field situation.
Berhalter had some comments about Giovanni Reyna’s attitude during the World Cup, and his parents jumped in. Former USMNT player Claudio Reyna reported an incident from decades ago that involved the coach in a domestic incident with his wife when all of them were attending the University of North Carolina. It was a long story that won’t stay in the past just like that, but the federation felt OK with their investigation and they are now expected to hire Berhalter again.
