Gregg Berhalter issued a blunt response when asked about his future as USMNT head coach following their Copa America elimination nightmare on Monday night.
A miserable 1-0 defeat to Uruguay was the final nail in the coffin for Berhalter’s men at Arrowhead Stadium, while Panama’s 3-1 win against Bolivia elsewhere meant the hosts crashed out of the group stage competition.
With two years to go until a World Cup is played on home soil, their abject showing at this summer’s tournament – which also included a shock 2-1 loss to Panama – has served as a brutal dose of reality and has increased calls for Berhalter to be fired as coach.
At his post-match press conference, the U.S. coach was asked if he believes he is still the right man to lead the team forward 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 eliminated Berhalter’s U.S. team from the Copa America
Berhalter simply replied: “Yes.”
After a bright start in Kansas City, Berhalter watched his team slowly fade away as the game progressed before Mathias Olivera scored the game-winner for Uruguay 24 minutes from time.
There had been a brief glimmer of hope for the United States just moments earlier when Bolivia briefly tied Panama, but in the end the latter emerged a comfortable winner, meaning that even a draw against an efficient Uruguay team would not have been enough.
“Just seeing the faces of the guys in the locker room and seeing the emotion of the staff and the players makes us feel deeply disappointed with the results,” Berhalter said at the start of his press conference.
We know we are capable of more and in this tournament we did not show it, it is that simple.
“If you look at the scenario that was created with the fans at this tournament, with the high level of competition at this tournament, we should have done better. We will do an analysis and find out what went wrong and why it went wrong, but right now it’s a feeling of emptiness, for sure.”
Asked by Mail Sport if he was concerned about his position as manager, the 50-year-old said: ‘Well, I’m not happy with the results of the tournament, that’s for sure.
‘That was, above all, the expectation we had: to do better than we did. And we are deeply disappointed by that.
“The other things that are out of my control are not something I need to spend a lot of time on. For me, it’s about how to keep improving, how to keep getting better and processing the lack of performance in this tournament.”
American midfielder Tyler Adams came to Berhalter’s defense after the game, insisting the team plans to support its head coach at a time when he needs it most.
“I have absolute faith in him,” Adams said when asked if he still believes Berhalter is the right man to lead them forward.
Berhalter is under enormous pressure to keep his job as head coach after the bitter blow.
But Tyler Adams insists the team is still behind him despite their group stage exit.
‘We set the game plan and the lads have to follow it. But in football, at the end of the day… you also have to be able to find solutions on the pitch.
“He’s been with us through a lot of tough times and I think we’re going to stick with him too. I think that’s important.”
“He basically told us in the locker room that we weren’t out of this game today, and I think everyone knows that,” he added.
‘The game in which we lost points and they let us down was against Panama.’
