USMNT
Gregg Berhalter spotted at AC Milan vs Juventus to watch USMNT players
The United States National Team coach travelled to San Siro to watch Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Weston McKennie and Tim Weah in action.
One of Europe’s most historic ties of the season, AC Milan vs Juventus, is always a special occasion for football. But for the United States National Team, this season in particular, it meant much more. For the first time ever, both of these historic teams of Italy’s Serie A have two American soccer players in their squads: Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Weston McKennie and Tim Weah.
Such a siginificant moment drew attention from everyone involved in US soccer, including USMNT manager, Gregg Berhalter, who travelled to watch the match live from San Siro, which ended in a win for the away side, thanks to a sole goal from Manuel Locatelli.
On match day 9 of the Italian first division, the game between Il Diavolo and La Vecchia Signora represented a valuable opportunity for four of the top USMNT players to demonstrate their quality at the highest level. Both Stefano Pioli and Massimiliano Allegri decided to start their Americans in the most important match of the weekend.
Four Americans in AC Milan vs Juventus “a special moment for soccer in the United States”
For that reason the manager of ‘The Stars and Stripes’ was in the stadium: with this month’s FIFA break done and dusted, the manager decided to travel to Europe to watch the game in Italy before the quarter-finals of the Concacaf Nations League in November, where the USMNT will look to confirm their place at Copa América 2024.
In a piece to CBS Sports, Berhalter said: “It is a special moment for soccer in the United States to think that these two traditional teams have four American players with the opportunity to compete in a game like this. We have come a long way and for me, being here is an honour, but mainly to support the guys, who are a great group.”
‘It’s an opportunity for young Americans to say that could be them’
In addition, he mentioned the change that he has seen regarding the growth of North American football: “I grew up watching games and Italian soccer on television, but there were no Americans on the field. So to see what we have now, if you are an American kid watching this you can imagine playing in this stadium in a few years”.
Finally, he spoke about the confidence that the USMNT players have to play in Europe as well as the atmosphere in which they operate: “It is a really high level, but they are also teams with a very high profile, which look to attract talent. Teams like AC Milan, Juventus, Inter Milan, will always want to have good players because of their profile and because they play in the Champions League or a difficult league like Serie A. It’s an opportunity for young American players to watch and and say that could be them one day.”