USMNT Coach Gregg Berhalter expecting World Cup qualifying format ‘any day now’

Regional qualifying will not begin in six weeks and not likely in October, when the second set of matches were to be played.

U.S. players abroad are just finishing restarted seasons instead of taking vacation. MLS is conducting a month-long tournament in a single location, with tentative plans to resume the regular season late this summer.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday from the Orlando area, where he is staying inside the MLS bubble, Berhalter said he expects Concacaf to announce World Cup qualifying details “any day now.”

He said he thinks the regional governing body will use the October international window for non-qualifiers and begin the qualifying process in November or the first quarter of 2021.

The format remains unclear, as well. Typically, Concacaf sends six teams to the final round, known as the hexagonal, with home-and-away matches between every team totaling 10 games apiece. Three teams earn automatic berths and a fourth enters an intercontinental playoff.

With international matches shut down since March, however, Concacaf has suggested changes. That could mean the end of the hexagonal and the implementation of several small groups involving more teams overall but playing fewer matches in seeking a ticket to Qatar.

Or the format could stay the same.

“Even if qualifying doesn’t start in 2020, there is still plenty of time to get a hex done,” Berhalter said. “We went through the dates; there are plenty of dates. We need 10 game days, five windows. They will be able to figure that out. That is what is advertised.”

As for Concacaf’s suggestions of change, Berhalter said, “That could mean a lot [of things]. I wouldn’t read into that too much.”

“It’s a bad situation for everyone, for every country,” said Berhalter, who was hired in December 2018. “We are not more disadvantaged than other countries.”

He noted the national team played 18 matches in 2019, among the most in the world. The last time it was together as a full unit, though, was November of that year. In 2020, the only match has been a friendly against Costa Rica on Feb. 1 with MLS-based players.

Friendlies in March were canceled and Nations League matches in early June were postponed.

Unable to attend matches in Europe and meet with players and their club coaches, Berhalter said he is in regular communication with the foreign-based player pool. Brian McBride, the national team’s general manager, is also connecting with players and clubs.

For instance, Berhalter said, McBride was speaking Tuesday with Wolverhampton officials about 19-year-old defender Owen Otasowie’s future.

What Berhalter has observed from afar is encouraging. Christian Pulisic, 21, has enjoyed a terrific summer in his first season with Chelsea following ups and downs and an injury before the pandemic shutdown.

Giovanni Reyna, 17, has worked himself into the Borussia Dortmund’s first team. Elsewhere in Germany, Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie — both 21 — have made strides and Josh Sargent, 20, played regularly in a successful battle to avoid relegation.

Defender Sergiño Dest, 19, is a rising star at Ajax, which did not resume the Eredivisie season in the Netherlands.

The absence of U.S. training camps and matches this year, though, could have adverse effects on the team’s progress.

“It’s about going through this process collectively so this group can grow,” he said. “There is a lot of potential in this group. We haven’t seen this group really together. We haven’t seen this group be tested in trying times. We don’t know who this group is. The public doesn’t know this group yet, but as we go through qualifying and when we qualify and go to the World Cup, this group can make an impact.”

Pulisic, Berhalter noted, has gained the trust of his Premier League teammates.

“If you watch the games, you can see the dramatic shift in how his teammates relate to him,” he said. “They actually look to him, whereas times in the beginning, you are thinking, ‘Wait, why aren’t they passing him this ball?’ Now they get the ball, their first glance is to him. He has really grown to be an important part of this group and it’s been fun to watch.”

Amid the social justice movement this summer, veteran DeAndre Yedlin questioned whether he still wanted to play for the national team. The Newcastle defender told Sky Sports, “It’s hard for me, as an African-American male, to represent a country that does things like this where all people aren’t equal.”

On Tuesday, Berhalter said: “I am completely supportive of Andre. I have let him know that. What I think he is doing is great. What we need is awareness. We need people to say, ‘We are not happy with the status quo, we want change.’

“I would hope he also sees the U.S. national team as a vehicle for change and to make a statement with us.”

Asked who has stood out at the MLS tournament, Berhalter said he has been impressed with Toronto’s Ayo Akinola, a 20-year-old forward with five goals in three matches; Columbus forward Gyasi Zardes and midfielder Darlington Nagbe; Seattle’s Jordan Morris; San Jose midfielder Jackson Yueill; Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Sebastian Lletget; and Philadelphia midfielder Brenden Aaronson.

On Aaronson, Berhalter said, “For being 19, all of our expectations are really high in how he should be performing and that says a lot about him and his skill-set.”

Source:WP