Gregg Berhalter was well within his right to call in all the top U.S. men’s national soccer team players for the Concacaf Gold Cup, this region’s equivalent to the European Championship and Copa America.
Because it’s an official tournament, he could have summoned — without interference from clubs — Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna and the other up-and-comers who defeated Mexico in a Nations League thriller last month in Denver.
In building his roster, however, Berhalter was engaged in a balancing act, weighing factors that went well beyond the desire to lift another trophy.