Berhalter, USMNT face immense pressure entering matchup with Honduras
By Doug McIntyre
FOX Sports Soccer Writer
It’s fair to criticize U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter for a number of things following the sputtering men’s national team’s wholly unconvincing start to 2022 World Cup qualifying.
But sending key midfielder Weston McKennie back to Italian powerhouse Juventus before Wednesday’s now-pivotal match in Honduras for breaking team rules isn’t one of them.
There’s no question that McKennie, whom Berhalter also sat for Sunday’s disappointing 1-1 tie with Canada in Nashville, would help the USMNT against Los Catrachos in San Pedro Sula. With another difference-maker in Giovanni Reyna (hamstring) already sidelined, the U.S. missed McKennie’s presence and pedigree terribly in the midfield against the Canadians.
Add the loss of a third starter, Barcelona right-back Sergiño Dest, who sprained his right ankle in the Music City — plus injuries to fellow regulars Paul Arriola, Reggie Cannon, Jordan Morris, Yunus Musah and Gyasi Zardes — and Berhalter’s decision to drop the hammer on McKennie took guts.
It would’ve been easy for the coach to go easy on the popular Texan, to put soccer above sending a message. After all, should the U.S. lose Wednesday in the last of the Americans’ three September World Cup qualifiers, they would have just two points out of a possible nine, and nobody would be under more pressure than Berhalter.
As he did after Sunday’s contest, Berhalter again refused to provide the specifics of McKennie’s infraction.
"This is a team matter," he said Tuesday. "That's not appropriate to share to the outside world."
He also refused to confirm an ESPN report Tuesday that said McKennie had violated the team’s COVID protocols on two separate occasions: one for spending a night outside of the team's bubble in Tennessee and the other for inviting an unauthorized person into his hotel room.
But Berhalter didn’t deny it, either. And if McKennie put his teammates at risk, the boss really had no choice.
"The team absolutely comes first," Berhalter said when asked by FOX Sports why he felt he had to send McKennie packing. "We made this decision not only for the short term but for the long-term health of the program.
"We're going to be missing Weston on Wednesday," he added. "It doesn't rule him out for the future."
The now is all about Honduras. A U.S. victory would restore some optimism and help offset the dropped points from the first two games. The hosts, however, are desperate for a win, too, having also tied their first two qualifiers.
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If the McKennie news was a distraction before the Canada game, the attention the story continues to get could actually dim the spotlight on the rest of the team. Instead of scrutinizing the USMNT’s lack of cohesion, their misfiring attack or suspect substitution patterns, four of the first five queries Berhalter fielded Tuesday were about McKennie.
"Thank you for asking a question about soccer," he joked with one reporter.
Make no mistake: In front of their own fans, Honduras will pose a formidable challenge for the shorthanded U.S. The Americans are 1-1-1 in their past three trips to the Central American country. They needed extra time to win their most recent meeting in June in the Nations League semifinals in Denver.
"A team that’s going to be ready to battle," U.S. captain Christian Pulisic said of Honduras. "We need to be very mentally strong and prepared."
The 10:30 pm ET start might help. The past two times the Red, White and Blue visited Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano, it was under a blazing sun. The U.S. lost in 2013 and needed a late Bobby Wood strike to salvage a tie four years later. The qualifiers the Americans won there in 2001 and 2009 were both played at night, when it's cooler. Wednesday’s high of 94 degrees will drop to 75 by kickoff.
According to Pulisic, the U.S. has already put its first two matches and the controversy with McKennie in the past.
"That’s what we do for a living," Pulisic said. "Things go on outside of the game. But as soon as we get to that field, we’re ready to go.
"It’s our job to put all of that behind us and go out and get a really important result."
If the Americans manage to do it minus McKennie, it would surely galvanize the group.
"The morale is great," Berhalter said. "People make mistakes. Things happen.
"We need everyone’s single-minded focus on what we’re trying to accomplish," he continued. "When people aren’t, you have to have a talk with them, and you have to sometimes enforce standards. It’s upsetting to me as a coach, to Weston, to the players and staff. But it is what it is, and we’ll be ready to play."
It’s hard to quibble with that.
One of the most prominent soccer journalists in North America, Doug McIntyre has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams in more than a dozen countries, including multiple FIFA World Cups. Before joining FOX Sports, the New York City native was a staff writer for Yahoo Sports and ESPN. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.