USA coach Berhalter insists he is the right coach despite disastrous Copa America exit

The United States may have slumped out of the Copa America, but Gregg Berhalter believes he is still the right coach.

The USA’s dress rehearsal for hosting the 2026 World Cup ended with a whimper as they crashed out in the group stage following Monday’s 1-0 loss to Uruguay.

That loss, combined with Panama’s 3-1 win over Bolivia, sent the host nation packing.

However, Berhalter insisted he is still the right coach for the job.

When asked if he felt he should stay in the role for the 2026 World Cup, he said: “Yes. You have to keep moving forward.

“It’s not where you say okay, this program is doomed. That’s not the case at all. It was a poor performance, we didn’t get the results that we expected and we need to get better.”

Mathías Olivera’s goal midway through the second half was enough for Marcelo Bielsa’s team, who will face the runners-up of Group D, likely to be either Brazil or Colombia, in the last eight.

The USA mustered just eight shots, getting only three of those on target and accumulating 0.56 expected goals (xG) to Uruguay’s 1.4.

“We’re bitterly disappointed in the results,” Berhalter added.

“We know that we’re capable of more and at this tournament we didn’t show it. It’s as simple as that.”

1 – The USMNT has failed to advance after winning its opening group stage match of a tournament for the first time after having previously advanced all 23 times it won its first group-stage match. Exit. pic.twitter.com/EcCqYHTrah

— OptaJack (@OptaJack) July 2, 2024

Uruguay headed into the tournament as favourites behind Argentina and Brazil, and they have proved their worth by winning all three of their group games.

In fact, they have opened a Copa America with three consecutive victories for the first time since 1959. Additionally, this is the first time La Celeste collected 100% of the available points in an initial phase of the tournament since 1942, when they won all six of their matches and were crowned champions in Montevideo.

With another heavyweight likely to come in the next round, Uruguay assistant coach Diego Reyes said: “They are two great opponents. Colombia is living a very good moment presently. Brazil, we all know they are great, so we’re going to start analysing in depth once we are sure who we are going to be against.

“I believe that after some minutes (against the USA), the team was able to find its way. This is a good thing because the upcoming matches will look a lot like this, so I think it’s a good comparison point.

“There’s always things to correct, and that’s what we are going to try to do.”