“Only Forward” was the motto of the US Football Association’s press conference at which a few days ago Gregg Berhalter was presented as the next national coach – or rather, at which he was “re-introduced”, as federation president Cindy Parlow Cone emphasized .
“I’m proud to re-introduce our next mens national head coach, Gregg Berhalter.”
There were allegations of violence against Berhalter
Because only forward, it’s not possible with a new one, but with the old one. Berhalter has been national coach since December 2018. And Berhalter had led the USA to the round of 16 at the World Cup in Qatar – which was seen as a success in America.
Nevertheless, his contract, which expired at the end of December, was not extended because the mother of national player and Dortmund professional Gio Reyna reported to the US association after the World Cup and claimed that Berhalter is said to have kicked his girlfriend at the time in a dispute in 1992.
She so obviously wanted revenge on Berhalter, who she felt hadn’t given her son enough playing time at the World Cup.
US Football Association launched investigation
Although Berhalter’s girlfriend at the time has been his wife for 25 years, they both have four children together and emphasize that the incident from back then has long been forgotten, President Parlow Cone and her association had the claims investigated by independent investigators. The result in March: there is no legal risk of hiring Berhalter.
“We take allegations of domestic violence very seriously. But we also trust the findings of the investigation and Gregg has our full support.”
There is also criticism of Berhalter’s return
Nevertheless, Berhalter was not immediately engaged as national coach again in March, but only now. In the meantime, the association said it had interviewed more than ten other candidates for the post. Rumor has it that Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira, as well as former RB Leipzig coach Jesse Marsch, were also among them.
The fact that the old coach is also the new one is viewed critically outside of the US association. For example with the well-known podcast “In Soccer we Trust”:
“We spent six months, you go through all of this. All this theatrics – and we are back to Gregg Berhalter.” It took six months, went through a lot, a lot of theatrics – and has now arrived back at Gregg Berhalter.
In short: valuable time was wasted on the way to the home World Cup in 2026. Berhalter will start his job in September. A big task. That’s why they only look ahead in the association. “Only forward”.