The US Men’s National Team returned States-side after their horrid and disappointing loss down in Panama as they dropped points against the Canal Boys, as they looked lifeless and uninterested in trying to find a way to attack the home side. So the final match in this October Qualifying window moved back to the home where the phrase of Dos-A-Cero was created as the US Men’s National Team returned to Columbus Ohio to face Costa Rica.

Instead of playing this match at historic Crew Stadium, the match was played at the brand new downtown stadium Lower. com Field. They earned a comeback win as the USA defeated Costa Rica by a final of two goals to one. The equalizer came in the 25th minute as Sergino Dest buried a beautiful ball to beat Keylor Navas for his first World Cup Qualifying goal.

The USA brought the ball up beautifully from their own end as it looked like they wanted to control the tempo and did so. As Tim Weah was attacking along the far side, he crossed the ball but overshot his teammates inside the Ticos area. But Yunus Musah saved it from going out of play, as he found Dest close by. the Barcelona fullback danced inside the area, took an amazing touch as he splashed a bending ball inside the upper far corner of the net and Columbus roared with delight.

The matchwinner which was designated as an own goal, against Costa Rica, put the USA in the lead around the 66th minute. As Dest received the ball, he saw an open space where he led Weah to make an attacking run, but Weah was smart not to take a touch as he smashed the ball one time and forced the backup keeper in Leonel Moreira who started the second half with an injury to Navas, and the ball squeezed thru by hitting the post, off Moreira and harmfully the entire ball slowly rolled over the goal line for the lead.

After 90 minutes of play had gone, the US Men’s National Team earned the full three points and are currently in second place in The Octagon as they have earned 11 points in six games. But this whole situation could’ve been avoided if Head Coach Gregg Berhalter didn’t continue to make errors in his starting 11 and he paid for it right after the opening whistle blew.

New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner has been the starting goalkeeper for the National Team since the start of the CONCACAF Gold Cup and conceded only once in six matches. The only goal he allowed was a penalty against Martinique in the second group stage match, but he is having a historic regular season with the Revs as they are going to win the 2021 MLS Supporters Shield in a landslide

Zack Steffen who began his career with Berhalter as his head coach at the Columbus Crew transferred to Manchester City, but since being at the club, he either hasn’t played or is used for a one-off either in the League Cup or the FA Cup matches in England. Basically, Steffen is used as a bench warmer at the Etihad in Manchester when there is a Premier League match. So how is it possible that Steffen who hasn’t had consistent minutes and isn’t the starting keeper at MAn City, was allowed to be the starting keeper against Costa Rica?

The opening minute of the match showed why Berhalter’s decision blew up right in his face. As the veteran Costa Rica side sent the ball on goal, Steffen decided to leave his line and headed the ball away outside his area, but the Ticos intercepted it and pushed the attack. A cross to the far side found Keysher Fuller wide open and buried the ball, as Steffen scrambled back to defend and when he reached the goal line, the ball beat him as he wasn’t prepared to defend the shot.

If not for the young players who survived that horrible beginning, the USA would’ve either dropped two or lost all three points against an aging Costa Rica side that is past their prime. Since qualifying began Gregg Berhalter has made major gaffs and has tinkered with this team’s roster and has played riverboat gambler the wrong way. Why did he even replace Turner for Steffen to start this match? The only way Matt Turner shouldn’t play is if he pulled what Weston McKennie did, injury during warmups, or injury during the match.

Zack Steffen gets a sentimental chance to start this match because the game was played in Columbus, in front of the Columbus Crew Supporters and that was a big mistake. While US Soccer USMNT GM Brian McBride and Overall GM Earnie Stewart won’t fire him for that because they won, the truth is it’s a fireable offense and Berhalter is lucky he’s not booted off his backside thru the door. Unless the USA has already qualified for the World Cup and has several matches remaining on their schedule, then I will understand, but this was a disgusting display of stupidity and Berhalter should’ve been sacked.

But after six games and 11 points earned out of a possible 18, the USA will be looking ahead for that big Classico as Mexico will come up states side and head to Ohio, with a new destination for the West side of Cincinnati. This will be a big-time win, but you hope and pray that Berhalter doesn’t get it wrong with the starting 11.

Every World Cup Qualifier is an important match where both the players and the fans of said National Teams will fight and die on the pitch for those 90 minutes that many will hope points will be earned and either shared or taken fully. Heading down to Central America for the third time to face a Panama side that is hungry for a win and looking to move up the Octagon table, Panama was ready to defend their home turf at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez.

Somehow the US Men’s National Team forget to check their pulses inside the locker room as they started flat and ended flat allowing Panama to convert a goal which they helped them get as the USA fell to a one goal to nil scoreline in Panama City. Anibal Godoy converted the goal with a little help from Gyasi Zatdes as the corner was delivered along the near side. While Godoy did try to redirect it with his head, it would be Zardes that blocked Matt Turner’s site and deflected it in off his right shoulder.

Other than that there wasn’t anything good the USA did in this match to show that they were prepared tactically or emotionally to battle for those precious 90 minutes, even though Berhalter made seven changes to his starting eleven, and sat some of those starters down, he quickly made two substitutions at the start of the second half bringing in Tyler Adams & Brendan Aaronson to shake things up. Those subs did work in the first 10 minutes of the match until the goal was scored off the corner and against the run of play.

Once again Head Coach Gregg Berhalter continues to build from the back and too much tinkering with the starting lineup is continuing to show that he is forcing down their throats his tactics and trying to look like a genius when he is outsmarting himself. Look no further than the road win at Honduras in the final match of the September Qualifying window. He made many mistakes in the opening half and got scored on, which forced him to make those halftime substitutes and it worked to get the victory in the closing half.

This is the problem you have with Berhalter as he continues to think as a club coach and not as a Nationa Team head coach. You don’t have a six to seven month season to tinker and play guesswork to see how things can change, you only have a week and a half, to a full two weeks for a camp and qualifying matches to get your game plan thru handwork so you can get that necessary victory. one wrong move or wrong decision and you find yourself getting the fingers of blame sharpened and pointed in your direction.

While there were those who thought the USA was going to get the full three points down in Panama, the hope was to get a draw so that a point was going to be enough as the final match in this window will be at home in Columbus against Costa Rica, but now that match is shinning much brighter and the desperation to have at least six points in these two home qualifiers is now a must-win game. Sure the USA is currently in second place with eight points in the Octagonal, but that won’t mean a damn thing unless they get a win at home on Wednesday night.

This isn’t about who plays in MLS or who plays in Europe, this is about the American player being led by an American coach who is outsmarting himself, and not doing the right things to get these players prepared tactically and emotionally. While there are still nine matches remaining in this final round of qualifying, it’s better to get this loss out of the way now and continue to move forward, because we will never know when the real pressure will come from the board of US Soccer & how hot Berhalter’s seat is when we get to the halfway point next month.

On this night we all learned something special about a young and upcoming superstar that has come out blazing and converting chances for the US Men’sNational Team. Two big goals took out the Reggae Boys and it was all done by one man or at least a brand new 18-year-old sensation in Ricardo Pepi as the USA defeated Jamaica by a final score of two goals to nil.

The opening goal came four minutes after the restart as the USA pushed the ball up the field, a lovely cross along the near side from Sergino DEst found its way to Ricardo Pepi and he headed the ball inside the far post to put the home side into the lead. In the 62nd minute, the USA did it again, but this time from the far side of the field.

Antonee Robinson made a nice pass to spring Brendan Aaronson and when he made that sharp turn towards the area, he too made a beautiful cross to Pepi and all the lad did was make a midair slide shot past goalkeeper Andre Blake to earn his second of the match and it was his third goal within two consecutive games. The boy who was born in El Paso developed at FC Dallas and smashed in a brace at Austin is a hero in his native state of Texas.

What we have seen is a special young player who is not afraid to take the reigns and dominate on the field as well as bury balls into the back of the net in a high staked World Cup Qualifier. You can tell he has a high level of confidence that we have never seen before with young players in the past try to do with the USA shirt.

It makes you feel happy when you are missing superstars like Christian Pulisic and Giovanni Reyna due to injury that the next round of superstars is just around the corner. You can also see it when Tim Weah who came on as a substitute was speed burning towards the Jamaican net as a second-half substitute and he is playing like a threat.

But the only two refereeing question marks in this match came in the opening half as both Kemar Lawrence in the opening twenty seconds and Damion Lowe in the 33rd minute created tackles where it looked like they were the last line of defense denying a goal-scoring opportunity from behind. Many were sure that referee Antonio Joshua Radix of Grenada was going to give a straight red card, but he decided to give a yellow to both fouls instead.

And without VAR being used for these final round qualifiers, we would’ve seen on the replay that there was a possibility to change that card color from yellow to red in both moments. but it never happened. If both fouls were shown a red card, you can bet the USA would’ve had more goals in this one and, Jamaica would’ve been down to nine men.

With this win and Canada draws against Mexico at the Estadio Azteca, the USA on points and a better Goal Differential are now at the top of the Octagon. While there are still two games remaining in this October Qualifying Widow and, plenty more in November, January & March, there is still plenty of time to be careful on who is ahead on the horizon of the USA’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup next Winter.

The US Men’s National Team is getting ready to face three more opponents in the Octagon as they will host Jamaica, Costa Rica & on the road in Panama. The Roster is looking pretty good for these next three games, as the road to the World Cup in Qatar is on the line and at least a minimum of six points needs to be earned to remain in the top three of the table.

The first game will be played in Austin, Texas at the brand new Q2 stadium as they hosted the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup Semi-Finals when the USA defeated Qatar by a goal to nil. Gyasi Zardes converted the match-winner late in the second half to advance to the Final. The home of the expansion side Austin FC has started to become a solid home-field advantage

Their second match will be on the road as the boys will travel back to Central America and face Panama at the Estadio Rommel Fernandez in Panama City. This was the Stadium where back in 2013 they defeated and eliminated Panama from reaching the World Cup in Brazil & in 2017 they earned a one-goal draw on the road when Bruce Arena retook the head coaching job after Jurgen Klinsmann was sacked before their six-goal barrage against Honduras in San Jose.

Then the National Team returns stateside to Columbus, Ohio as they will host Costa Rica at the brand new Lower .com Field. This will be the very first US Men’s National Team game, at the brand new Downtown Soccer Stadium, as the days of Historic Crew Stadium are officially closed. The new downtown Stadium at the Capital City of Ohio will have a bigger advantage with a roof and the noise will be bigger and louder for the home side.

The USA will be missing three players due to injury in Christian Pulisic, Giovanni Reyna & John Brooks, but the one name who has returned to the roster is Juventus Midfielder Weston McKennie as he returns to the National Team after his two-game suspension by Head Coach Gregg Berhalter. As we all remember McKennie broke team COVID Protocol rules as he left his hotel room in Nashville.

The National Team needs McKennie’s talents to be a weapon within the midfield during attacking runs, set pieces, and scoring big goals to earn the three points. We all know how strong he is leaping in the air, and running with the ball on the ground. Having him on the National Team makes them better, but if he does it again, what happened in Nashville, he might not be so lucky to return. It took nearly 40 minutes of gameplay, not counting halftime to allow Canada head coach John Herdman to outcoach Berhalter.

Of course, we also saw Berhalter tinkering with his lineup, formation, and getting scored on down in Honduras, before he saved his job by making the proper substitutions and changing back to what his players were comfortable with, by scoring four unanswered goals in the second half. Berhalter can’t tinker with his game plans or create a new formation that will fail qualification to Qatar. Now there are no more excuses as this qualifying window will provide him with two home games out of the three, and if he doesn’t get at least six totals points from the two home games, then he should be out of a job.

But that will be on madam president Cindy Parlow-Cone & the board of US Soccer needs to pull the dirty deed to fire him, if he can’t get the job done if he fails to win both home games in this window. World Cup Qualifiers are the holy grail of international football matches, as the idea is to qualify for the biggest tournament as the whole world is watching and the talent is on display to show the fans of this sport why the American players are improving and doing better in European leagues and why this country is producing talent in a positive progression.

So now it’s all on the shoulders of these talented players as well as Berhalter to get this correct. So at least a total of seven points is the most important thing to get. If they get all nine, then it will be a successful qualifying window. Time to get this going and have some fun.

For the past few years, we have seen growth from the clubs and the nations of this confederation improving within leaps and bounds. But while there is still room to continue this growth and the improvement of play on the pitch has been nice to watch, CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani has pulled out a brand new twist as he has improved the CONCACAF Champions League with a bigger field.

While we don’t have a true group stage to begin in the Summer-Fall, there will still be a knockout phase in the following year in the Spring, there will be an opening-round filled with 22 clubs from within all three regions of the Confederation. Canada who has it’s own Premier League 7 the Canadian Championship will have three clubs enter, while MLS will continue with four births and the US Open Cup, and Mexico will have five births for their entrants.

In Central America, the UNCAF region will have a ten club tournament with a group stage as well as a knockout faze for five births, following with the Caribbean Zone, the CFU will also have the same tournament to create three births for their sides There will be 22 clubs within the region who will begin in the first round while the Champions of the MLS Cup, Liga MX overall winner, the UNCAF Cup winner, The CFU Winner will advance automatically to the Round of 16 along with a twist as the Leagues Cup between MLS & Liga MX sides will allow the champion to enter the Round of 16 as well.

For those who have just heard the news from MLS, they will now allow all clubs from the top divisions of both countries to compete for three spots to enter the Champions League. The Champions of Leagues Cup will go to the Round of 16 while the second and third place teams will go straight to the first round. The zonal tournaments will begin in the summer of 2023 with MLS & Liga MX will take a stoppage of play to perform the revamped Leagues Cup tournament in the summer to earn those three spots in the Champions League.

The 11 first-round winners will advance to the Round of 16 to face the five automatic bids as all matches will be goal aggregate with away goals counting but the Championship Final will be a single match and that will be played on a weekend date. While the adjustments are exciting news to hear and there will be improved competition along within the confederation, this is an exciting time to see the future of football as the Confederation is celebrating 60 years.

This is the list of bids that will be given to those leagues in their respective countries

Round of 16: five automatic Spots will be given to the champions of Can &USA: MLS Cup, MEX: Liga MX, CAN-USA-& MEX: League Cup, Central American: UNCAF Cup Champion, Caribbean: CFU Cup Champion

First Round

North Zone:

Canada: Canadian Premier League Champion & Runner Up, Canadian Championship
USA: five births finishing in MLS Regular season spots & US Open Cup Champion
Mexico: Five births in Liga MX Apertura & Clausura seasons
Leagues Cup: Will have two births with Runners Up & Third Place Finisher

Central Zone: UNCAF Club tournament will have five births. UNCAF Cup Runners Up, Two Semi-Final Losing sides & two play in playoff winners

Caribbean Zone: CFU Club Cup tournament will have two births. Runners up & Third Place Winner

All we want is to see this confederation improve the level of play at the club level and the international, so far this looks to be going in the right direction, but the proof needs to be in the pudding, and we will see this within a couple of years.

It was definitely a tale of two haves, for Greg Berhalter and the US Men’s National Team as the kids went down to Central America for the second time in this international window and found a way to outrun & out gun Honduras as they blitzed them and won the match by a final score of four-goals to one on a comeback victory.

The start of the match till the end of the first half looked absolutely atrocious as the USA Came out in a 5-3-2 with two fullbacks, and three center backs that hampered how this team played to start the game. At the same time, Berhalter put Tyler Adams as a fullback and put James Sands who is a central defender, up in midfield behind the attacking players.

Even though Honduras did convert an opening chance from Brayan Moya who was all alone, got an easy chance to convert. You saw from the US Men’s National Team poor play, no energy, easily shoved off the ball, easily stripped off the ball, passes weren’t sharp and they were getting run off the park. But Berhalter did something he had to do because his back was against the wall.

He made instant impact subs by bringing in Antonee Robinson, Brendan Aaronson & Sebastian Lletget to start the second half taking off a lethargic John Brooks, Josh Sargent, and George Bello as these three players made an instant impact on the pitch down in San Pedro Sula. Antonee Robinson scored the equalizer two minutes after the restart on a beautiful short bender inside the far post.

Brendan Aaronson got his goal in the 82nd minute as he got a smasher inside the middle of the net and then Sebastian Lletget converted inside second-half stoppage time, but the start of the second half started and ended the full match for FC Dallas, new superstar, Ricardo Pepi as he earned man of the match He assisted on Robinson’s goal after the cross from Lletget, came over with a quick backheel. His goal was to take the lead in the 75th minute with a beautiful header of the cross from De’Andre Yedlin to beat the keeper inside the far post. and then he was challenged by two defenders down the far side and he found Aaronson all alone in the middle of the park.

This new superstar of the US Men’s National team as the El Paso, Texas native came in and showed no fear whatsoever. Pepi in one game has done more than a handful of players since this 2021 calendar year began. It’s not to say that the others aren’t matching his work rate or his intensity, but maybe they need to work on their technical abilities a bit longer so they can improve for the next international window.

But at the end of the day, this wasn’t a good start to these September games, but the finish was joyful and impactful. But as Berhalter gets a reprieve right now, the truth is he can’t allow another poor start when October comes up next. These games are too important and while we have an extra four games to qualify for the World Cup, the more points that are dropped, the worst it will get. So right now Berhalter should celebrate, but he has a month to sit back, think of what he needs to do to get this situation righted, and at least earn six points in the two home games he will have next month.

The US Men’s National Team came back to home soil after their road draw at El Salvador, and it felt that this team needed to gain a spark at Music City in Nashville, Tennessee as they were about to play their second of three World Cup Qualifiers in this September window. But after certain circumstances went against them, they earned a one-goal draw at home and the failure to get the full three points.

Before we go to the Head Coach of this National Team, we set our sights towards one of the players who is a rising star in Calcio at Serie A in Italy as Weston McKennie did something very rash and paid for it by being suspended by head coach Gregg Berhalter. As we all know during this time with COVID there is tons of scrutiny about staying indoors and not attending a bar, nightclub, or restaurant to have a meal away from your house.

The 23-year-old decided not to stay at the team hotel and went out while breaking COVID Protocols, for his immature decision Berhalter suspended the player and was forced to watch the match away from the players and the bench area. This is not a Juventus match in the Serie A, or the Coppa Italia, a Gold Cup match, or a Nations League match. This is a World Cup Qualifier that deserves the utmost respect from a player with the talent and technical ability he has to earn the full three points.

The rational thing to do was to ask members of US Soccer if he can invite someone over at the hotel, or at least have a conversation six feet away at the hotel lobby, or if he wanted a late-night meal, to help him order something from an app. Instead, McKennie’s actions cost his team two valuable points.

And now to the head coach. Gregg Berhalter has found success in two tournaments in the CONCACAF Nations League & Gold Cup, defeating Mexico twice in both finals and both in extra time. But in two World Cup qualifiers, he has found two points within six and it’s not good enough when you drop two at home against Canada who has become a dangerous side within these past several months.

After Brendan Aaronson converted the opening goals ten minutes after the start of the second half, Canada head coach John Herdman made a substitution in the 58th, then his team got an equalizer, from Cyle Larin in the 62nd, then made two more substitutions two minutes later, then two more subs in the 76th, and Berhalter made his second, third and fourth substitutions in the 83rd. Since Sergino Dest’s injury happened and being subbed out in the 44th minute, Berhalter made no subs for nearly forty minutes of play not counting the halftime stoppage.

For the second time in four official matches in Nations League, Gold Cup & now a home match in FIFA World Cup Qualifying Canada Head Coach John Herdman has outcoached Gregg Berhalter, and to be fair, he got his tactics right. Whatever Berhalter is doing, Herdman is snuffing them out with a better game plan, and until he realizes it, this golden generation could get tarnished before we get to host the 2026 World Cup in our backyards along with Canada & Mexico.

I understand it’s only been two games and so far we haven’t seen them drop to the basement of the Octagon, but if Berhalter can’t get any form of points this coming Wednesday at San Pedro Sula in Honduras, this whole situation will get ugly in a hurry. The internet right now is not kind to Berhalter and the fans are already shouting for Berhalter to be fired. While I’m not on that train at the moment, I want US Soccer to pay attention very carefully and it doesn’t matter if it comes from the board or from Madam PresidentCindy Parlow-Cone, but something has to be addressed before this situation gets a lot worse.

But at the end of the day, if Gregg Berhalter doesn’t shape up his tactics and philoso[phy, then he must be shipped out and in a hurry.

The road to Qatar for the United States started on Thursday night, September 2nd as this young and fresh generation begins their road to Qatar in World Cup Qualification. Their first match was down in the Estadio Cuscatalan in the nation of El Salvador, as they earned their first road point with a scoreless draw.

For the majority of these players, it was the beginning of the shenanigans of going on the road down in Central America where the crowds are historically hostile, throwing garbage and other unspeakable things at them and the amount of gamesmanship that opposition will throw at you to try and bait a foul call or a yellow card.

While it was better to earn a point on the road, the truth is the style of play didn’t look even and their shape looked disjointed. There were moments of solid attacking soccer, but the majority of that time showed it was either a bit of a struggle and, too many 1 on 1’s where dispossession happened. Forcing passes to get inside the El Salvadorian’s area and not enough power or accuracy with their shots.

The only time you felt the USA Was going to convert a chance on rame was in the first half when Gio Reyna delivered a flawless free-kick to Miles Robinson, who wasn’t marked and got a free header, but sadly his header shot went wide of the near post. That chance was begging to go in the back of the net.

The two saving graces of this result for the USA were the goalkeeping of Matt Turner and the amazing play of Center Back Tim Ream. To see Tim Ream have a solid defensive effort for the first time in a long time, was exciting and gave me new confidence in his ability to continue his play for the National Team. He is not a fullback at all. He is a natural center-back who is solid playing in the middle of the park. From his days with the New York Red Bulls and his time with both Bolton & Fulham in England, Ream is showing why he was a solid center-Back when he was marked for this National Team.

While many are screaming for either Ethan Horvath or Zack Steffen to start for the National Team, Matt Turner is proving why he is doing the job for Gregg Berhalter, while no one wants to admit this, he is getting consistent playing time for the New England Revolution for the past three seasons. While Steffen is at Manchester City and Horvath who had a great moment in the CONCACAF Nations League Final as a substitute hero against Mexico, he and Steffen are not starting for their clubs in England.

Unless there is a second coming of Tim Howard, these two who ply their trade in the blue side of Manchester & at Nottingham Forest, gets consistent minutes as the starters, then I would feel better about one of those two playing in goal, and making the necessary saves, just when Jozy Altidore wasn’t getting minutes at Villarreal in Spain and was starting for Bob Bradley in World Cup Qualifiers.

But overall, this was a decent result with a poor performance, but I won’t give these kids a hard time as this will be their first introduction going on the road in Central America and once their home match against Canada will be this coming Sunday night, they will make a return visit to Central America taking on Honduras. Now that they got a taste of what they are going to expect in the future for World Cup Qualifying, they will learn from this past experience and move forward.

What just happened on Sunday night, August 1st? What type of gambling did we see from that 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final as the United States defeated Mexico? We saw a bunch of kids who have never played together as a team and who would never get called up to play in a big National Senior team men’s tournament have a run and at the end of the run, they hoisted some goldware.

While the criticisms were legitimate that the only match this side scored multiple goals during the group stage was the six goals to one victory over Martinique, this side played strong on defense and never allowed a single goal in open play or on set pieces. The only goal they conceded was at the penalty spot.

But for Gregg Berhalter who’s hiring came at such a big question mark from the members of the board of governors of US Soccer, and several moments of failure before the calendar changed to the year 2021, this man who was heavily criticized, including me has just done the impossible, he defeated the top dog of the Confederation and in my mind the best manager of football in Tata Martino who has managed the best player in the world in Lionel Messi.

That pinpoint free-kick cross along the near side by Kellyn Acosta was on point as Miles Robinson found a channel and ran onto the ball, to leap in the air, head the ball down and the ten percent of American fans erupted with joy and glee put the USA on the front foot to capture the Men’s Nationalteam 7th CONCACAF Gold Cup title.

Gregg Berhalter deserves tons of credit for making the changes he needed to the starting 11, making the correct substitutions, and now he has done something that no other USA head coach has done at all. They have been to two CONCACAF Senior Men’s National Team Tournament finals and defeated El Tri twice within the same calendar year and within a two to three month period in the Nations League & now the Gold Cup.

The roster that Tata Martino brought over was an A-side that should’ve taken down the USAS to the young and inexperienced players that Gregg Berhalter brought over to see who he will be integrating into his World Cup Qualifying rosters within a month, but this group of young players came out of nowhere, had the belief they could make history and did so in Extra Time and some, in my opinion, may have stolen some roster spots for this sprint to qualify for Qatar next winter.

For Berhalter, his stock is now rising right in front of us, while I do believe that Tata Martino is still one of the best managers in all of world football as he has managed FC Barcelona, Argentina, Atlanta United and working with all players, no matter where he has managed, is at the pinnacle of his powers was just taken down by a man who is managing our Nation’s National Team from Tenafly, NJ.

After it’s all said and done, Gregg Berhalter can now say he has won two titles against one of the best tacticians of the game and against the USA’s major rival. While the opening and closing group stage matches were nothing to speak of, for Berhalter in the Gold Cup, the knockout stage was glowing and shining very pretty, and once aga, the defense came up big to start these matches and the offense snuck into the end the matches with big victories.

We witnessed in the Nations League was our top talent doing well in Europe, to beat Mexico, and then our up and coming talent who plies their trade-in Major League Soccer, to beat Mexico for Gold Cup Glory. This amazing feat from both the head coach and from the academies of our clubs in the top division league shows that everything is improving and getting better, but the next trip should be the Qualifiers and hopefully a trip to Qatar.

But until then everyone, go and celebrate like you just won the lottery.

As the CONCACAF Gold Cup is winding down towards the Semi-Final Round on July 29th and the sold-out final in Las Vegas Nevada on August 1st. We are nearly one full month till we get to September 2nd, as the final round of FIFA World Cup Qualifying will be on its way as the US Men’s National Team will face seven other opponents for the right to travel to Qatar.

Fourteen games (7 home and 7 away0 with common opponents like Jamaica, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, and so on. While the USA Will host Canada on Sunday, September 5th in Nashville, and then host Jamaica in Austin’s Q2 Stadium on October 7th, the big game will always be USA Vs. Mexico. While the match will remain inside the state of Ohio, there will be a change of scenery.

On Friday, November 12th the home qualifier is known to many as Dos a Cero will be moved to the brand new TQL Stadium on the West Side of Cincinnati as FC Cincinnati’s home stadium will earn its first-ever US Men’s National Team game and it’s the biggest one of them all. The border war that brings every single USA Soccer fan as the pilgrimage will be walking towards a different city.

“When you talk about great rivalries in our sport, USA-Mexico is one of the best,” U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Gregg Berhalter said to TQL Stadium reporter. “We are fortunate to have so many great venue options in this country, and for this match, Cincinnati ticks all the boxes.”

“This is a special game that requires a special atmosphere, and we know it’s one that Cincinnati will provide.”

“This match is the culmination of years of planning and hard work,” said Jeff Berding, FC Cincinnati President. “We had the vision to build a stadium that was not only home to FC Cincinnati matches, but also a premier destination for world-class events. This is one of the biggest matches in North America, and we are proud to play host to all of the fans that will be in attendance.”

While this is an exciting moment for FC Cincinnati, you know that this city which is known for the Reds & the Bengals can handle a monumental event like Soccer. Who can ever forget a full Nippert Stadium on the campus of the University of Cincinnati, when they host many 2017 US Open Cup matches like the 5th round match against the Chicago Fire where they won it in a penalty shootout, and a full stadium in an extra-time loss in the Semi-Finals against the New York Red Bulls.

I have no doubt that the city of Cincinnati can handle the fame and the spotlight of this monumental match in USA Vs. Mexico. While it’s tough not to have lower.com Field missing this opportunity, there are still five home games left for the brand new home of the Columbus Crew to get selected from US Soccer. I believe that the venue will be selected again for USA Vs. Mexico in the future, but for right now Cincinnati has plenty of time to set up, prepare & get ready for the greatest pilgrimage as the sea of humanity of American Soccer fans will arrive.