Amid the glare of the controversy surrounding U.S. men’s national soccer team coach Gregg Berhalter and the family of star player Gio Reyna, the program reportedly made a front-office move Friday.
Brian McBride was fired as general manager of the men’s team, multiple media outlets reported.
McBride got the job when it was first established in 2020, reporting to U.S. Soccer sporting director Earnie Stewart.
During McBride’s tenure, the USMNT won the CONCACAF Nations League and the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2021, beating Mexico in both finals. The U.S. got out of the group stage at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar before losing to the Netherlands in the Round of 16.
Berhalter was hired as the USMNT’s head coach in December 2020, preceding McBride’s arrival. Berhalter’s contract ran out following the 2022 World Cup, and it is unclear who will coach the team moving forward, with Anthony Hudson taking over on an interim basis for two friendlies in the Los Angeles area on Wednesday and Jan. 28.
Berhalter came under fire during the World Cup when he surprisingly limited the playing time of Reyna, one of the squad’s most talented players. The coach later unwittingly leaked the news that Reyna was nearly sent home from Qatar for a lack of effort in training, though Reyna later apologized to his teammates for a lack of motivation.
Reyna’s parents, longtime friends of Berhalter, informed Stewart and McBride in December about a domestic-violence incident involving Berhalter and his then girlfriend, now wife, more than 30 years ago. That information sparked a U.S. Soccer investigation into the incident, with Stewart saying that Berhalter still could be rehired as the coach depending upon the results of the probe, which is ongoing.
McBride, 50; Berhalter, 49; and Stewart, 53; were longtime teammates on the U.S. men’s national team.
McBride is the fifth-leading goal scorer in USMNT history with 30 goals in 95 games. In his club career, he played mostly for the Columbus Crew and the Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer and Fulham in the English Premier League.
–Field Level Media