The U.S. men’s soccer team may have to navigate most of next year, including a series of competitive games, without a full-time coach after the departures of two senior officials on Thursday further upset the already reeling organization.
Earlier this month, US Soccer Investigation In the personal conduct of Gregg Berhalter, who coached the American men to a successful World Cup run late last year, after Accusations from the disgruntled player’s parents that he physically assaulted his wife in a decades-long incident.
The team announced that it would delay a decision on keeping Berhalter – whose contract expired at the end of 2022 – for another World Cup until the independent investigation reached a conclusion. With the team keen to build momentum for the World Cup in Qatar and begin preparations for the 2026 tournament, which the United States is co-hosting, these operations were expected to happen in a relatively short time.
US Soccer president Cindy Barlow Conn said the organization will hire an outside consulting firm to conduct a comprehensive review of its team structure. She said the new developments mean the team may be without an athletic director and coach until the end of the summer. She said Berhalter remained a “candidate” to coach the national team, but the loss of two senior decision-makers and the expiration of his contract – with no end in sight to the investigation – would certainly mean the end of his tenure. An NFL spokesperson confirmed that Berhalter is “no longer an employee of the NFL”.
“We didn’t plan it that way,” Kuhn said Thursday. “We find ourselves in this position, and we’re going to take the opportunity to do a deep dive into our sporting side to make sure we’re as effective and efficient as possible, because we have a great vision of where we want to go forward on the sporting side, and we want to make sure we’re in the best position to achieve those goals.”
Stewart, who holds a position at Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, will remain with the organization until mid-February. McBride will be leaving at the end of this month. Both men were former national team players and former Berhalter teammates.
Kuhn said the two departures had nothing to do with the ongoing investigation into Berhalter, which was launched when Stewart was informed by Danielle Renna, mother of star winger Gio Renna, that Berhalter had hit his wife in an accident in 1991, when the two were dating during the affair. College.
Reina and his parents were upset that Berhalter did not give the player much time at the World Cup in Qatar, and that he made veiled comments about Reina’s poor attitude – without identifying himself – in a tirade speaking after the tournament. (Rina’s father, Claudio, another former Berhalter teammate, resigned Thursday as athletic director for MLS club Austin FC and said he will move into an advisory position.)
“Greg is still a candidate,” Kuhn said of Berhalter’s standing. And she added, “In the end, the new sports director will be assigned to appoint the coach of the men’s national team.”
Conn said it is possible for the team to move forward without a general manager after a review of the organization’s structure by Sportsology Group, a sports consulting firm. She admitted that the time required for the review could create uncertainty for “our staff, for the players”, but called it an opportunity.
She said, “What it actually is is a clean cloth.”
The USA team is currently led by interim head coach Anthony Hudson. The group is currently in the midst of a training camp that will conclude on Saturday with an exhibition match against Colombia. (lost to Serbia, 2-1, on Wednesday night). In March, the team will resume playing competitive matches with two legs in the CONCACAF Nations League, a regional tournament that serves as a qualifier for this summer’s Gold Cup.
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