Gregg Berhalter admits USMNT have 'long way to go' to earn Mexico's respect
United States men’s national team head coach Gregg Berhalter admitted his side still has “a long way to go” to earn the respect of North American rivals Mexico.
Berhalter spoke to reporters ahead of Friday’s match and reiterated that the USMNT’s two summer victories over Mexico during the Concacaf Nations League and Gold Cup final will not have changed the perception of the American side in the eyes of their rivals.
The head coach, instead, signaled a triumph on Friday would be required to gain that acceptance.
"When you hear things coming out from their camp, that we want to be Mexico, where we're looking at some mirror that's Mexico and we want to see ourselves or something like that, it shows that we have a long way to go to get the respect of Mexico," Berhalter said.
"The two victories in the summer I guess didn't do a lot to get that. We're going to have to do it on Friday by our play on the field.”
Berhalter’s comments also addressed the statements given by Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, after he told TUDN, "Mexico was the mirror in which the U.S. wants to see itself and wants to copy.”
The pressure is now on for the USMNT, who must overcome a number of difficult choices and injuries.
Berhalter revealed the Americans will start the game without star forward Christian Pulisic after his recovery from an ankle injury took a slight detour.
"He's been training for four days with Chelsea, and common sense is going to tell us you can't start a guy in a game like this when he's only been training for four days, and he's been out for two months," Berhalter said.
"I understand [Thomas] Tuchel's concern. Our idea wasn't to play him 180 minutes in this trip anyway. He's not going to start Friday."
Manchester City goalkeeper Zack Steffen is making his return for the American side after a back injury halted his involvement with the USMNT during the October round of qualifiers. He replaces New England Revolution’s Matt Turner.
"They're both great goalkeepers, no question about it," Berhalter added.
"We've seen that in camp this week. Zack is going to start the game Friday. But you know, there's very little separating them at this stage and we could just as easily went with Matt. We decided to play Zack."
Berhalter’s choice to opt for Steffen over Turner suggests the USMNT want to prioritize seniority as Mexico’s figures signal an advantage in experience over the American side. He estimated that Mexico's average age will be 29 while the U.S.'s will be closer to 22 or 23.
"We've learned from that game, and it's important that we're taking all those lessons on board as we prepare for Friday night," Berhalter closed.