World Cup 2022: How the USMNT restored its culture

 In late September, before the U.S. men's national team played its last two

warm-up matches ahead of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Greg Burhalter

gathered 26 players in a hotel conference room in Duisburg, Germany.

With the words "better to be together" engraved on the big screen behind him,

the manager delivered an important reminder to his team.

"In the World Cup, we won't be the most talented team," he told them. "It's just

a reality. But we can be the most cohesive team. It's something we can

control. We can be a team that fights for each other every game. You can do

it. And if we do, we have enough talent to win anyone."

Team unity has underpinned USMNT's modern history. That, against all odds,

allowed many college students to qualify after 40 years of absence from the

biggest sports party in the 1990 World Cup.

It helped Americans avoid the humiliation of becoming the first World Cup host

to not survive the group stage four years later. Berhalter's 2002 tournament

was the most successful tournament since 1930, surprising the dark horse

Portugal in the opening match, and then narrowly losing to Germany, who

finished runner-up in the quarterfinals.

As a country that barely matched its second-tier international opponents, not

to mention elite football countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Italy, the

United States gained greater fame than their parts combined, advancing to

Italy's seventh consecutive World Cup from '90 to 2014.

So when the United States failed to reach the 2018 event in a spectacular

way, a comprehensive and clear post-analysis was needed.

"When I first got a job, I sat with former national team coaches and talked to

more than 30 players who participated in the program," Burhalter told Fox

Sports last month. "I was really shocked to hear how the culture got worse

because I remember being on the team. It was one of our strong suits." 스포츠토토

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The rift first began to appear under the guidance of former coach J르게rgen

Klinsmann. As a German striker who won the 2006 FIFA World Cup,

Klinsmann's approach to leading Die Mannschaft to the semifinals was very

different from his predecessors. Rather than creating a collaborative

environment, he deliberately strained the players. The idea was to make sure

no one was too comfortable. 

And it worked for a while. The U.S. advanced from the death group in 2014,

and survived a quartet that included Germany's fourth-choice team, Cristiano

Ronaldo's Portuguese team, and Ghana, an opponent who knocked the U.S.

out of the previous two World Cups.

But Klinsmann's method quickly wore off. The losses were piled up. The

players were just being careful for themselves.

"They were an individual team," said Bruce Arena, who replaced Klinsmann

after the U.S. held the final round of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers with

consecutive losses. "There was a lot of self-interest in the group."

Arena tried to make everyone go in the same direction, but it was too late. The

United States failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 30 years in

Trinidad and was eliminated from the final qualifying round.

A year later, Burhalter took over. Once his in-depth exploration of the team

culture was completed, he began to try to restore it. He met team building

expert Owen Eastwood, recommended by Gareth Southgate, the England

coach to face the United States, in the second group match in Qatar on

November 25.

"We had to unite around a shared vision and common values and reflect on

how to build these relationships with each other," Burhalter said.

As a former national team player, the starting point was to let the new

generation know the history of the program. Ernie Stewart, Burhalter's boss,

then general manager and current director of American football sports, was

also a decorated former USMNT player. (Another person, Brian McBride,

succeeded Stewart as GM, further strengthening generational ties.)

"The culture of being a national team player is all around us. "We shouldn't

take it lightly," Burhalter said. "That's something we should be proud of."

Whenever a new player made his debut, Burhalter later presented him with a

game ball and welcomed him to "brotherhood." (The newest member, Malik

Tillman, became the 843rd USMNT player in June.)

Training sessions are designed to be as fun as competitive. Berhalter also

gave his players ownership of the process. Six members belong to what the

coach calls the "leadership council," a group that links divisions between

teammates and staff. They have a say in things like training hours, activities

and curfews.

Nevertheless, in the second youngest team in U.S. history (only the team in

1990 was younger), there were hiccups along the way. Ahead of USMNT's

second World Cup qualifier, Burhalter sent star midfielder Western McKenny

home to defy the team's rules.

"I think we've all grown and matured because we've all had a wake-up call,"

Burhalter said. "I got a wake-up call. I thought everything would go smoothly.

And you have to kick one of your best players out of the camp to play two

qualifying matches. It was like a holy---

"Managing through it was not the easiest but I think everyone came from a

better place," he added. "After that, and especially now, we can look into each

other's eyes and I think there's honesty there."