US men’s soccer head coach Gregg Berhalter did not win over many fans with a gesture he made Monday during his team’s Copa America match against Uruguay at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.
The US entered the contest tied in the Group C standings with Panama, who was playing simultaneously against Bolivia. The US just needed to match Panama’s result given that the Americans had a +3 goal differential before both matches kicked off.
Panama started their game 1-0, but Bolivia was able to equalize in the 69th minute.
Berhalter seemed to have received the news of Bolivia’s goal mid-game. He appeared to gesture to his squad about the Panama-Bolivia update, raising both of his index fingers to relay the score.
Gregg Berhalter told his team the score of the 🇧🇴v🇵🇦 game.
10 seconds later, Uruguay scored and USA is out 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/WFk7YXe4Xh
— Tomás Haaland🇳🇴🇲🇽 (@Tom__Haaland) July 2, 2024
Seconds later, Uruguay scored the match’s lone goal in the 66th minute.
Fans on X piled on Berhalter over what became a move symbolic of the team’s failure.
Berhalter excitedly signaling the Bolivia score to his players just seconds before conceding a goal is pretty symbolic of his entire tenure. Just accepting mediocrity if not straight-up celebrating it
— Andrew Joseph (@AndyJ0seph) July 2, 2024
After 74 games under Gregg Berhalter, one constant is that the team doesn’t create chances. This is who they are. There is no logical way to believe that will change with more time.
All the BS from tonight shouldn’t mask the obvious: it’s time for a change.
— Kyle Bonagura (@BonaguraESPN) July 2, 2024
Berhalter telling his team that Panama is 1-1 just before they defend a free kick was not the best idea. All concentration then lost. Did look offside from angles given.
— Danny Higginbotham (@Higginbotham05) July 2, 2024
Panama ended up scoring two more goals to win 3-1, meaning a US tie with Uruguay would not have been enough for the Americans to advance past the group stage.
Berhalter wasn’t the only maligned figure at Arrowhead on Monday. Referee Kevin Ortega also drew the ire of fans and even had a contentious moment with US captain Christian Pulisic after the match.
