Why did Berhalter tell USMNT players Bolivia had scored?

It may not have been the decisive moment in the U.S. men’s national team’s stunning early exit from the Copa América, but it certainly was a baffling one.

The USMNT entered Monday’s game against Uruguay knowing that it would advance to the quarterfinal if it could equal or better Panama’s result in a simultaneous match against Bolivia.

Midway through the second half, the USMNT and Uruguay were still scoreless in Kansas City when a major update arrived from Orlando: Bolivia had equalized against Panama, making it 1-1.

With both matches tied, the USMNT was poised to go through if the two results stayed as they were.

USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter opted to inform all of his players of the huge change in their situation. Rather than needing a goal, the USMNT would now advance with a draw. That would, however, also require Bolivia to hold on against Panama for another 20 minutes plus stoppage time.

Less than 30 seconds later, though, the USMNT was behind. Mathías Olivera scored a controversial goal off a set piece, putting the U.S. provisionally out of the tournament.

A few minutes later, Bolivia’s brief resistance was broken. Panama found a go-ahead goal, and would add another late in a 3-1 win. The USMNT, unlike its Concacaf rival, could not score, and crashed out with a 1-0 defeat.

Berhalter didn’t stick to his word

Berhalter’s move was somewhat baffling because not only did it seem to backfire, but it was also directly in conflict to what he said the day before in his pre-match press conference.

“We’re not gonna need to do live updates during the game,” the coach said. “At halftime, if something needs to be said, we’ll say it. If not, we’re really focused on winning the soccer game.”

Why did Berhalter go back on his word? The coach explained after the game that he felt his side needed to know that circumstances had changed.

“We updated them at halftime. We said, Panama’s winning, we’re gonna need a goal. Even if they score again, we’re still gonna need one goal,” Berhalter explained.

“And then in the course of the game, when Bolivia equalized, it was getting that information out — that we wanted to be smart, solid. Panama is tied in the game. And, um, yeah.”

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