Gregg Berhalter made the grand proclamation at his very first meeting with the U.S. men’s national team.
“We’re on a mission together,” he told two dozen players, some of whom he’ll take to the World Cup this fall. “What we’re looking to do,” he said on that tranquil day in January 2019, “is change the way the world views American soccer.”
He was, at the time, the freshly-minted head coach of a program reeling. Stateside approval ratings had hit 21st-century lows. Worldwide approval ratings, meanwhile, had never been all that high. Berhalter knew this.