The United States men’s national team suffered a shock 1-0 loss to Panama on Sunday, and head coach Gregg Berhalter took responsibility afterward for his lineup choices.
Following the team’s 2-0 win over Jamaica on Thursday, Berhalter decided to make seven changes to his lineup with the thought of resting players ahead of their qualifier on Wednesday against Costa Rica.
Gyasi Zardes, Kellyn Acosta, Sebastian Lletget, Tim Weah, Shaq Moore, Mark McKenzie, and George Bello were included in the starting eleven alongside Matt Turner, Walker Zimmerman, Yunus Musah, and Paul Arriola.
However, Berhalter’s gamble proved to be a humongous failure as the U.S. fell behind 1-0 in the second half on a goal from Anibal Godoy, leaving them in desperation to find the equalizer.
“Now it obviously doesn’t look like the best choice,” Berhalter said after the game. “We know we’re playing in extreme heat, extreme humidity, we’re now traveling for 4 1/2 hours, and we know that we have another game on Wednesday and we wanted to rotate players. And if it didn’t work, then it’s on me, and it’s my responsibility, or our responsibility as a staff.”
“The good thing is we’re still in second place.”
Berhalter and his charges will have to put this game behind them and regroup for Wednesday’s clash against Costa Rica at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio.