Ahead of a CONCACAF Gold Cup final clash in Las Vegas, U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter put the focus not on his team, nor on his opposition, but instead on the third team on the field – the officials.
“We’re preparing the guys for a very difficult game, a very competitive, combative game,” Berhalter said. “The only thing that I think is worth mentioning is that we want it to be a physical game. We want it to be a tough, contested game, same as Mexico, right? They want the same thing. But we also want it to be fair, and that’s the referee’s role in this game: to manage the game in a fair way.
“I’ve seen numerous times when the players from Mexico are grabbing players necks and the facial areas, and that has no place in the game. We want our guys to battle. We want both teams to battle. We want it to be physical, but that has no place in the game. When I saw the semi-final, I didn’t think the referee did a good job of managing that at all.”
Berhalter is set for his third U.S.-Mexico final in charge of the national team. After losing his first – the 2019 Gold Cup – his side took a 3-2 extra-time win over El Tri in June in the Nations League.
“We know it’s going to be a tight game,” Berhalter said. “Things like set pieces will come into play in this game. Who can commit to executing on both sides of the ball on set pieces? Who can execute the game plan? And who can respond? I think that’s the crucial thing that we’ve learned is that it’s not always going to go to our plan. There’s going to be bumps in the road, and it’s about how you respond to those bumps. If you do it the right way, you’ll be successful.”
Now, his side face a showpiece final at Allegiant Stadium in front of a sellout crowd. In fact, all tickets for the match were sold before the tournament kicked off, just 90 minutes after going on sale.
“I think CONCACAF has done a great job with the fans and the stadiums in this tournament,” Berhalter said. “It’s been really exciting. The Dallas game was an amazing crowd. The Austin game was an amazing crowd. I’ve seen Mexico playing for great crowds. Las Vegas is going to be just the pinnacle of the tournament in the final, and the crowd’s going to be amazing.
“We’ll deal with whatever crowd there is. If it’s pro-Mexican, we’ll deal with that. If it’s pro-American, that will be a great boost for us.”
The U.S. will face Mexico at 5:30 p.m. local time on Sunday for the continental title.