DaMarcus Beasley says ex-USMNT teammate Gregg Berhalter 'can't stay' as head coach
DaMarcus Beasley believes that Gregg Berhalter can't continue as U.S. men's national soccer team head coach, saying he's lost the locker room amid the continuing saga involving Gio Reyna.
At an event last month he believed was off the record, Berhalter revealed that he nearly sent an unnamed player home from the World Cup. That player was widely believed to be Reyna, which the forward would later confirm himself.
An already controversial situation exploded earlier this month when Reyna's parents Claudio and Danielle revealed that, in response to their son's treatment by Berhalter, they went to U.S. Soccer with details of a 1991 domestic violence incident involving the coach and his wife.
The ongoing controversy was a talking point on HBO Max following the USWNT's 4-0 win over New Zealand on Tuesday - the streaming service's first game as U.S. Soccer's new broadcast partner.
Beasley said that in his opinion, his teammate on the 2002 and 2006 World Cup team can't continue after breaching the locker room's trust with his ill-advised comments on Reyna.
"For me, I think that U.S. Soccer, for one, can't stay with Gregg Berhalter. I think once you lose the locker room and the trust of your players, I think you have to go. I hope that [U.S. Soccer president] Cindy [Parlow Cone] and [U.S. Soccer sporting director] Earnie [Stewart] or whoever is making decisions can see that and put someone in that position to make better decisions and move this team forward," Beasley said.
Former USWNT internationals Shannon Boxx and Julie Foudy agreed.
On Wednesday, Beasley took to social media to clarify that when he said Berhalter lost the locker room, he was offering his own opinion rather than passing along information from anybody on the team.
MORE: Dual-nationals Zendejas, Gomez and Vazquez called into USMNT January roster
END OF AN ERA: Atlanta United legend Josef Martinez joins Inter Miami
Berhalter is currently out of contract but U.S. Soccer has said he is still under consideration for a new deal that would take him through the 2026 World Cup cycle.
Beasley is the only U.S. men's player to appear in four World Cups (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014). He retired from competitive soccer following the 2019 MLS season.