Gregg Berhalter has laid out a mission to change the way the world perceives American soccer. In Saturday’s round of 16 matchup with the Netherlands, they can still win over hearts and minds.
When he took the job as head coach of the U.S. men’s national team in December 2018, Gregg Berhalter laid out a mission to change the way the world perceives American soccer. For all of the highs and lows of the last four years, Berhalter and his players knew the only way they could achieve that was by succeeding at the World Cup after the U.S. missed out on the tournament four years ago.On Tuesday night, they cleared a significant hurdle in Qatar. It was not pretty, not even close, but the U.S.
“You see how resilient this group is, you see how unified this group is, you see what type of energy and output they put into every single game, and then along the way there’s some pretty good soccer,” Berhalter said. “And so I think that’s the American spirit, the way this group plays, and I think people will appreciate that — especially back home.”
“It’s difficult after getting a shutout against England to take Walker out, and it was a difficult conversation with Walker,” Berhalter said. “And then the rationale was that Cam does this. We expected Iran to be in a low block and Cam does this every single week with Celtic. We thought that was just a very logical decision. He’s used to defending space behind, he’s also used to building up against a compact defense. So to me, that was a good fit and he played really well.
The U.S. thought it had doubled the lead a few minutes later when McKennie found Tim Weah with a through ball behind Iran’s back line. Weah got on to the pass and beat Beiranvand with a shot to the far post, but video review and offside technology deemed the winger’s chest and torso just barely offside. The goal did not stand, and the U.S. went into the half with a 1-0 lead that was almost more. The missed chances and disallowed goal would prove to be crucial.
. Iran nearly scored what would have been a dagger of a goal in the 98th minute, only for Zimmerman to clear the ball away from an empty net. Iran vigorously called for a penalty on the play, but the referee waved off the appeals.
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