Gregg Berhalter, asked Monday about the stakes of the United States’ final group-stage match against Iran, responded with annoyance and acceptance.
“It’s interesting the way you asked [the question],” he said. “You’re saying it sounds kind of illogical to judge [four years on one game,] but we go ahead and ask it anyways, right? And that’s our business. Our job is that we’re gonna be judged on what we do at the World Cup. So that’s fine. We’ll deal with that.”
The only thing Berhalter got wrong was the length of time that Tuesday will be a referendum on. It’s not just the four years since he was hired to manage the U.S. men’s national team. It’s the five years since the most embarrassing soccer moment in this country’s history, the failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, the loss to Trinidad and Tobago, the moment this all comes back to whether anyone likes it or not.
For five years, the United States built up its national team program by hiring Berhalter and having so many of its promising young players grow into roles at premier European club teams, which led to winning the CONCACAF Nations League and the Gold Cup. The U.S. made it to Qatar through a qualifying gauntlet, and proved on Friday that it can hang around, even with England, at this tournament.
Fail to win against Iran, though, when a loss or draw means elimination, and it all means nothing. This is five years coming down to 90 minutes — a winnable 90 minutes — the result of which will set the tone for four more years leading into the 2026 World Cup on home soil.
Is it fair? Who cares about fair?
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“I think that the work we’ve put in through the last four years, there’s been so many ups and downs in the journey and it feels like recently in the past year, we’ve finally started to find some consistency,” captain Tyler Adams told reporters in Doha. “Especially having to go through that World Cup qualifying process for a lot of us, our first experience in that cycle. Now coming to the World Cup and it also being a first experience for a lot of us, our first goal on the agenda was we have to get out of the group by all means. … We can now achieve that goal [Tuesday].”
To add even more, there is a distinct political backdrop to this game, with protests raging in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman arrested and beaten for wearing a hijab incorrectly, and the general state of affairs between the United States and Iran. Berhalter and Adams were asked a combined nine times about issues ranging from American warships in the Persian Gulf to the U.S. Soccer Federation’s social media support of the protesters by leaving the Islamic Republic’s symbol off the Iranian flag.
For that particular offense, Iranian state media on Monday called for the U.S. to be kicked out of the World Cup entirely and suspended for 10 games. Berhalter apologized, saying the gesture was done without player or staff knowledge.
But it was Adams, told he was mispronouncing Iran’s name and asked by an Iranian reporter about representing a country with a history of discrimination as a black man, who gave a response to remember.
“Growing up for me, I grew up in a white family with obviously an African-American heritage and background as well,” he said. “So I had a little bit of different cultures, I was very easily able to assimilate in different cultures. Not everyone has that ease and the ability to do that and obviously it takes longer to understand. Through education, I think it’s super-important. Like you just educated me now on the pronunciation of your country. It’s a process. As long as you see progress, that’s the most important thing.”
Amid a cynical World Cup, there was proof positive that the 23-year-old Adams represents the best of his country off the field.
Tuesday is a chance to show that this team does the same on the field.
Three keys to victory
Find a way to score: Iran coach Carlos Quieroz is well known for his ability to park the bus, inviting pressure while playing for a draw. His team is incentivized to do just that, with Iran needing only a draw to advance. Breaking down teams once they’re in a defensive structure has been a weakness of the U.S. under coach Gregg Berhalter. It can’t be in this game.
Get Reyna involved: If Giovanni Reyna is indeed healthy, then it is plainly bizarre that he has played only eight minutes in this World Cup. Reyna is the sort of dynamic player in attack who can make all the difference, and Berhalter needs to get him more playing time in this game.
Control the midfield: Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams did a superb job of this against a more talented England side on Friday, dominating the middle of the pitch and forcing England coach Gareth Southgate to bring on Jordan Henderson to regain some semblance of control. A repeat performance against Iran will make all the difference.
