United States national team head coach Gregg Berhalter prior to the friendly against Costa Rica. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
Gregg Berhalter on the young national team
This CONCACAF Gold Cup is a bit more of a developmental one for the United States national team and head coach Gregg Berhalter. Given that the tournament is sandwiched between the inaugural Nations League and World Cup qualifying this fall, it necessarily ranks a bit lower in priority for the Americans than usual.
So a younger squad, with players battling for a role for this fall’s qualifiers, changes the importance of the Gold Cup a bit from being a trophy to win to a tournament whose importance is about finding players who can help the United States get into next year’s World Cup.