Berhalter reflects on the USMNT’s defeat to Germany: “At times we had them on their heels”

The USMNT and Germany played the first of two friendly matches scheduled for this month’s international break. Saturday’s game at Rentschler Field was Julian Nagelsmann’s debut as Germany coach.

Christian Pulisic had given the hosts an early lead with a wonderful finish but Germany responded with goals from Gündogan, Füllkrug and Musiala to take the game 1-3.

After the defeat, Gregg Berhalter spoke to the press: “First of all, congratulations to Germany, a well deserved win. I think it was an entertaining game for the fans. The first half especially, I thought we were really good. And then it came down to some moments. I think the goals were conceded a little too easily, but overall, happy with the effort of the team, happy with the mindset and the intentions of the team - that was important. And the third was, we didn’t give up, we didn’t quit - we kept trying to push right up to the final whistle. Overall, I was pleased with that and it was a good learning experience for the group - we know we need to get better if we want to win,” the coach began.

“Against a quality opponent like Germany you have to be able to make plays and stay connected in and around the penalty box and in the three goals, there was a loss of connection of the backline and the midfield - overall, just organization on those three plays let us down a little bit. But what we did learn was, those moments - the speed at which these top teams can play out, the combinations they can play in really tight spaces was important to learn. And then I think also, for us to understand that we can also hurt teams like that. That should give us some confidence. As we plot towards 2026, it’s about learning from these moments and understanding that we need to stay in it for every single minute, in every game, to have a chance,” the American coach added.

As for the positive things he saw, Berhalter said, “We created some problems. Looing at the run from Christian from deep on 5 minutes, it wasn’t offside; it was too bad that the AR put his flag up because it would have been a nice goal. And then just the threat we had a lot on the first half. It put Germany on their heels a little bit at time. To me it’s also about controlling the tempo of the game, that’s what that we really need to learn. We used up so much energy with our counter-attacks, and then it’s hard to really stay consistent in all of your actions, and keep your defensive shape”.

Gio Reyna only playing the first half

The coach was asked why he opted to include Gio Reyna in his starting line-up rather than on the bench: “It’s similar to Balo [Balogun], we are carefully managing his minutes. The goal is to send him back to Dortmund in a really good spot. We thought 45 [minutes] was a perfect dose for him. We wanted to give him the opportunity to get the 45 from the beginning. I think he played a good game and showed his quality. Everyone in the first half played well. It was good to see him, and good to have him on the field”, Berhalter concluded.