Gregg Berhalter’s first match as USMNT coach with a full (well, almost full) complement of players during a FIFA international window on Thursday against Ecuador gave Americans their first true glimpses at how the new boss is shaking things up with the national team.
Cristiano Ronaldo won’t be coming back to the United States anytime soon. Amid a Las Vegas police investigation into allegations Ronaldo raped a woman in 2009, the Juventus Preseason Tour 2019 will not swing through the U.S., as it has in recent years, according to reports from the New York Times.
Christian Pulisic. Weston McKennie. Tyler Adams. The big Europe-based names are there. Well, except for a couple forwards. So why didn’t Gregg Berhalter call up other young stars like Tim Weah and Josh Sargent to the USMNT roster for the March 2019 friendlies?
Lionel Messi isn’t giving up on his home country just yet.
After a trying World Cup and suggestions of his international retirement, Messi was named to the Argentina team for its March friendlies. It will be the first time the Barcelona maestro will appear for his country since the 2018 World Cup.
Another game, another draw. Is it time to worry?
The USWNT was always in for a challenge at the 2019 SheBelieves Cup against the teams ranked No. 4 (England), 8 (Japan) and 10 (Brazil) in the world. But for the No. 1-ranked team, back-to-back draws showed the challenge may have been too much for the current U.S. team.
Sebastian Lletget scored his first career USMNT goal back in 2017 in Avaya Stadium in World Cup qualifying. Moments later he suffered a devastating injury.
Finally back in the national team fold, Lletget returned to Avaya Stadium in Gregg Berhalter’s second match in charge. And wouldn’t you know it, he scored the winner.
After preaching the verb “compete” as one of the mantras of his new leadership, Gregg Berhalter began his reign as USMNT manager with a 3-0 victory over Panama on Sunday night. The first starting eleven of Berhalter’s tenure included five players making their international debuts, and three of them — Real Salt Lake’s Corey Baird, Chicago’s Djordje Mihailovic and San Jose’s Nick Lima — played huge roles in the opening two goals.
The third was created and finished by two more players making their international debuts — NYCFC's Jonathan Lewis and LAFC's Christian Ramirez.
The U.S. men’s national team plays the first match of the Gregg Berhalter era on Sunday just outside of Phoenix. The friendly against Panama is the first chance to see the USMNT play under a non-interim coach since October of 2017. Apparently no one cares.
The USA-Panama match will be played at State Farm Stadium (formerly University of Phoenix Stadium) in Glendale, Arizona. It’s a 63,400-seat stadium and one that has been filled for previous USMNT matches.
That won’t be the case Sunday.
It’d been a long time since any nation treated the USWNT like Spain did in the opening 45 of today’s contest in Alicante. 2019 will mark La Roja’s second-ever World Cup appearance (the first came in 2015), but the growing European side controlled 58 percent of possession and out-passed the defending world champions 274-195 in the first half. Not bad for a first-ever meeting with the powerhouse that is the USWNT.
Jill Ellis got the test she wanted for the USWNT vs France. And then some.
Kadidiatou Diani scored two goals, including an audacious second-half chip, to send third-ranked France to a 3-1 win over the U.S. in front of a sold-out crowd Saturday at Stade Oceane in Le Havre, France.
The USWNT had its 28-match unbeaten streak snapped in the first game of 2019 after having gone unbeaten in 2018. The last time the U.S. women lost was July 27, 2017, a 1-0 defeat to Australia in the Tournament of Nations.