US Soccer is a very small organization for a federation that manages more than 12 million players in a vast area. The country’s sports governing body currently employs more than 100 people, but it has been ruled by a small elite for decades.
Aside from Jürgen Klinsmann, you’d have to go a long way back to find a men’s national team head coach who hasn’t separated from the same coaching tree. Bob Bradley (2007-11), Dave Sarachan (2017-18), Greg Berhalter (2018-Present?) are all Blues Arena (1998-2006 and 2017) at the college, professional or national level A former assistant to the USMNT, Berhalter also played under Arena for the USMNT. Alina was coached by Manny Scherscheidt (1975) and several other national team managers. They are all from New Jersey or New York.
US Soccer’s key executives and senior officials tend to stay with the team for most of their careers. One president often begets another president. In 2020, then-President Carlos Cordeiro (the longtime left-hand man of former President Sunil Grati, who was the successor to former President Alan Rosenberg) forced to resign, the new president, Cindy Parlow Cohn, was styled as a reformer. Prior to that, she was a longtime Women’s National Team player and served on five different U.S. Soccer Commissions. Outsiders are also insiders.
“It’s like a recycled name,” says former men’s national team player and ESPN analyst Herculez Gomez. “It seems centralized. And when something is monopolized, it’s not a good thing. US soccer needs to be open to new ideas and different perspectives.”
A few people run the game of America, passing it from father to son, mentor to mentee. But now, with two prominent American football families embroiled in a bubbling stew of conflicting interests and betrayal, even the BBC couldn’t resist. 4 minute segment In the drama across the pond. The feud is between the current head of the national team, his coach Verhalter, and Claudio Reyna, one of his most famous figures in the American gaming world.
In case you somehow missed Reina’s fuss or just don’t understand it, here’s a quick explanation: Players went on the field and tired players didn’t leave the field. There has been speculation about injuries Reyna herself removed after the opening match against Wales. Days after the U.S. exited the tournament, Burhalter gave an off-the-record talk at the conference, Said The crowd told stories about a player who was nearly sent home from Qatar for lack of effort at practice.necessarily the name report: Gio Reina.Reina Verified A young player had a bout of sullenness. It happens all the time. I thought the story was over. It wasn’t.
Berhalter posted last Tuesday long message on an unverified Twitter account with only a few dozen followers at the time. “During the World Cup, an individual contacted US Soccer and said they had information that ‘caught me.’ It seems like you’ve been trying to tap into something very personal for quite some time,” he wrote. He then confessed to domestic violence with his now-wife, Rosalind, in 1991 when he was 18 when he was a University of North Carolina football player. During a drunken night out, he kicked Rosalind’s leg during an altercation. He said he had hired a law firm, and then hired the team at its annual January camp for Burhalter, whose contract with the federation expired on December 31 and whose future has already been the subject of ongoing speculation. never led — an assistant to his will.
After that, things changed a lot. The next day, ESPN reported that Danielle Reyna, Rosalind’s UNC teammate, close friend who witnessed the incident, and Gio’s mother, made blackmail-like threats to the Federation. , was Burhalter’s childhood friend and long-time national teammate. Claudio is a National Soccer Hall of Famer and former Youth of the Federation he is Technical Director.But none of that stopped him Also Multiple complaints were sent via text message to members of US Soccer, including Technical Director Ernie Stewart and Men’s National Team General Manager Brian McBride.Reinas Verified To athletic They contacted the organization but still defended their intentions. “I’ve known Arnie for years and consider him a close friend,” Daniel said. “I am completely outraged and devastated that Gio has been put in such a terrible position, and very personally by the actions of someone my family has considered a friend for decades. I wanted to let him know that I felt betrayed. He said he felt it was particularly unfair to be dragged through the mud when he asked for and received forgiveness for what he did.
yes. disgusting. All of it.
This kind of thing only happens when the whole family is intertwined across generations. Now, at least the short-term future of US football is in the crossfire.
This is very normal in American soccer. Everyone in the domestic game knows everyone else for decades. Everyone sticks together forever. No one leaves. So Reina and Verhalter, seniors, played youth soccer together under the guidance of Reina’s father, Miguel. Together they went to St. Benedict Prep in Newark, a school that produced four men’s national team players and eleven professional soccer players overall. G. Gordon Liddy). Perhaps it’s because the school is located in New Jersey, producing a hugely disproportionate number of his players for the national team. In tiny Kearney (population 40,000) alone, he has six National Soccer Hall of Fame inductees.But that still doesn’t explain Claudio being the best man When Bellhalter married Rosalind. Verhalter’s son, Sebastian, played for Austin FC, with Claudio as sporting director and Verhalter’s former assistant Josh Wolfe as head coach. Of course, Gio Reyna played or probably still plays for Berhalter.
There’s no point in scribbling down a blame scorecard here. But the disappointing episode as a whole is informative in that it reveals the incest in American football. What’s more interesting now is figuring out where the Commonwealth goes from here. do you want?
Gio is probably the most talented player on the men’s varsity team, possibly the greatest of all time, even better than Christian Pulisic. And at the World Cup, several federal officials I spoke to were very appreciative of Berhalter’s work as head coach of the national team. Said he wants to go back to work. So what or who gives?
it’s been It pointed out It would be hard to imagine U.S. Soccer heaping even more attention and disdain on an ugly incident it would soon forget and commission an internal investigation if it had no intention whatsoever of holding a bar halter. If is leaning towards letting go of Burr Halter, then despite his competent performance at the World Cup, every mean ordeal would provide the perfect cover for ditching him. , by conducting a full investigation and finding a credible solution, so long as no more dirt is dug up, a permitting structure can be built to bring Berhalter back. (Daniel Reyna said that Burhalter’s confession was “significantly[d] In her statement against ‘abuse of the night in question’ athletic.) Again, U.S. soccer has suffered years of bad publicity over its equal-pay battle with the women’s varsity team and its failure to take action when NWSL players reported widespread abuse. You may be more cautious later.
“I totally believe that [Berhalter] I was on my way to renew my contract for a second term,” Gomez says. “I don’t know how U.S. Soccer got back to Greg Berhalter when this came to light. The last thing USA Soccer ever wanted is this. They have spent the last five years in legal battles with players. I have spent [Berhalter] The ruckus from the fan and sponsor sector was to return, but I don’t think that’s the headache US soccer wants. ”
Probably not.After Zinedine Zidane, who coached Real Madrid on two occasions Reportedly turned down Without jobs for the United States, the Commonwealth could move to other members of the fraternity, other branches from the tree. But somehow, it’s possible that Berhalter and Reynas will have to find a way to get along again. Both are unlikely to disappear.
Leander Schaerlaeckens is a regular contributor on football. RingerHe has written a book about the US men’s national team. He teaches at Marist College.
