‘US Can hUrt England’
US coach Gregg Berhalter admits the English are formidable, but he is confident his side can pose a threat
THE United States face England in their second match of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 group stage match at the Al Bayt Stadium on Friday. The United States enter the match as underdogs to England, who thrashed Iran in their opening match. A loss will almost certainly end the US’ chances of progressing. They desperately need an impressive result after giving up their lead against Wales to settle for a 1-1 draw.
US coach Gregg Berhalter admits that the English team are formidable, but he is confident that the USMNT can pose a threat to the Three Lions. “We believe there are areas we can exploit and harm them,” he told a press conference. “When it comes to England, they finished fourth in the 2018 World Cup and second in Euro 2020. These are the tangible items to which you cannot point. We’re not there yet,” Greg said in response to a question about the current crop of American players. “We need to use this World Cup to establish ourselves and then hopefully move to the next World Cup and do the same,” he said.
US captain Tyler Adams said his teammates are relishing their underdog status as they look to pull off another World Cup upset against England. Leeds midfielder Adams, on the other hand, believes the Americans are unfazed by the prospect of facing a team he considers to be one of the tournament favourites.
“I think England are currently one of the favourites to win the World Cup,” Adams said. “I think that in a lot of games people say we’re the underdogs. But we carry that with pride. It doesn’t mean anything to us to be underdogs, or to be favourites. That being said, when we step on the field against England we have to be prepared or else a win is not possible.”
Adams added that Friday’s game is a chance to accelerate a positive shift in how American soccer is perceived around the world.
“It’s a huge opportunity to fast track the impact that we can have,” Adams said. “These are the games where it’s a high pressure, privileged moment to step on the field against some of these guys... When you get a result in a game like this people start to respect Americans a little bit more.” “We have to stay disciplined and do what we do every single day, train well, perform in the games and show up. We know that our quality can show and our determination can show,” he said.
Despite his optimism and the United States’ previous success in defeating England in the 19 0 World Cup Adams recognises the significance of a victory. “I believe it’s a tremendous opportunity to accelerate the impact we can have,” he said. Drawing parallels between his job and that of England manager Gareth Southgate, the US coach stated, “When he first took over his job, it was very much similar to the one I first took over, trying to reshape the identity of the team, refocus, working on the younger group of players, so in that case very similar.”
“But, based on recent events, the pressure in the English media has been tremendous, and I believe this is different. These guys give me a hard time every now and then, but not to the extent that Southgate does. He’s done an excellent job with this team, and they’re a formidable opponent, so it’ll be a tough game for us.”