NEW YORK ( Associated Press) – Changes in the structures of the United States men’s soccer team, prompted by a conflict between two families deeply rooted in national soccer, intensified Thursday when sporting director Ernie Stewart resigned for PSV Eindhoven. gave.
Team manager Brian McBride has also resigned, leaving manager Greg Berhalter in limbo after his contract expires on 31 December. Berhalter is under investigation for a 1991 domestic violence incident. One of his assistants, Anthony Hudson, took the lead in his first game as interim coach on Wednesday.
Federation president Cindy Parlow Cone indicated that it would take several months to define the coach’s position. Sportsology Group, a company that works with the Los Angeles Rams and various football teams, was hired to lead the search, prepare a report on sports department performance, and analyze candidates. After this, the sports director will appoint the coach.
“We are confident that we (Boreal) will be able to fill both slots by the end of summer, so that the men’s team will have enough time to prepare for the 2026 World Cup,” Cone said. “Greg is still a candidate.”
On 3 December, days after the United States were eliminated in the Round of 16 by the Netherlands, Berhalter told a leadership conference in New York that he was going to send home a player he felt had not done enough in training during the World Cup. were not trying. He was apparently referring to Claudio Reyna, the 20-year-old midfielder and son of former men’s team captain Claudio Reyna and former women’s team player Danielle Egan Reyna.
The Reyna family complained to Stewart and McBride about their son’s lack of playing time at the World Cup, where he came on twice as a substitute.
Furthermore, Reynas informed Stewart that Berhalter had dumped his then-girlfriend in 1991, whom he later married.
This led the Federation to hand over an investigation to an outside law firm. The body also reviewed the personnel of the team and their performance during the four-year World Cup cycle.
Stewart, 53, played for the United States at the 1994, 1998 and 2002 World Cups. He was hired as the team’s first manager in June 2018 after the team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Stewart was the one who recommended Berhalter’s appointment as a selector to the federation’s directors.
