Berhalter, Pulisic, and Turner were beyond frustration after a loss the coach called ‘a wake-up call’ for the USMNT
There are losses, and then there are nightmares.
Saturday’s 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Colombia was the latter for the U.S. men’s national team, leaving Gregg Berhalter’s side chastened just over two weeks before the start of the 2024 Copa América.
“From the 75th minute on, it was I think a lack of respect for our opponent [and] the game of soccer, what we were doing,” Berhalter told reporters at Commanders Field in Landover, Md. “We’re not framing it a lesson learned, we’ll frame it as a wake-up call.”
Berhalter peppered his post-game remarks with the phrase “really disappointing,” calling out the USMNT for its lack of effort and focus. The second half, which saw three Colombia goals in the game’s final 13 minutes, was a particularly frustrating topic.
The late capitulation “overshadows how we got back into the game, how we were aggressive, how we had them on their heels,” said Berhalter. “They were struggling for a moment when it was 2-1, and we weren’t able to capitalize on it, and then the game went to pieces.
“There were some positive chunks of the game, but again, what I’m looking at right now, 5-1? It’s not good enough, that’s for sure.”
Some of the USMNT’s top players concurred, with goalkeeper Matt Turner offering an apology in a post-match interview with TNT before bemoaning the USMNT’s “naivety” on the day in a mixed zone shortly thereafter.
“We really just opened up and allowed them to do exactly what they were planning on doing to us,” explained the New Jersey native. “It’s frustrating, because we knew what we were getting into, and then we didn’t take care of our business… We can’t accept that level of effort from everybody — from all 27 of us and the coaching staff — if we want to have any success this summer.”
Pulisic: USMNT ‘nowhere near the level’ required
Team captain Christian Pulisic said more than once that he would be watching video of the match to pick out all of the issues, but clearly had some facets of a miserable performance in mind.
“It just felt like they were waiting for us to make a mistake and then just kill us in transition. That’s just what happened over and over again,” explained the AC Milan attacker. “We were nowhere near the level we need to play at if we want to win games coming into Copa América.”
Berhalter came back to a collective stumble, reeling off a wide range of issues contributing to Colombia’s goals.
“We can’t just point to one player. It was multiple players, again, not respecting the game of soccer [and] the opponent in that case,” explained the USMNT manager. “Our whole idea was, the space has got to be small. If you make the space big, you’re in trouble. And you saw, as soon as we opened up, it was lights out…
“Go back and check the goals, it’s midfielders not recovering. It’s guys losing the ball in positions when our fullbacks are high. They got hung out to dry on a number of occasions.
“It’s the second phase from a set piece, it’s a miscue on a ball that’s going out of bounds in the first six minutes in the game. So, it’s a collective thing, and the reason why I’m so disappointed is because, guys just didn’t do their job. It’s about your role, your responsibility. We didn’t do that.”
The coach concluded with a summary of the mood in the mixed zone, and surely throughout a fanbase that was expecting the USMNT to compete with one of CONMEBOL’s best.
“It’s a collective performance,” stated Berhalter. “Collectively, we’re not happy.”
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