There’s real pressure on Gregg Berhalter and USMNT players at their biggest game since the World Cup

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Yes, there is a lot of noise around the U.S. men’s soccer team.

Yes, there is real pressure, on a team hyped as the most talented American men’s squad ever, and on the man in charge of it.

And yes, it’s all going to come to a head in Monday’s Copa América group stage finale against Uruguay at Arrowhead Stadium (9 p.m., FS1, Univision 65, TUDN, ViX), the biggest game since the 2022 World Cup and possibly the biggest before 2026.

Shouldn’t it be that way? The sport and the team are the most popular they’ve ever been, proved by Fox’s TV audiences for the two group games so far — the network’s largest ever for U.S. games outside a World Cup. A growth in pressure to deliver is a natural consequence of a growth in popularity.

» READ MORE: Even if the USMNT beats mighty Uruguay at the Copa América, it still might not advance

“We know what representing our country brings, and we know that the public demands that we win games, and we take that responsibility very seriously,” manager Gregg Berhalter said Sunday. “We go out and compete and things happen in tournaments. But I know for us, for this generation in particular, we’re focused on continuing to build, continuing to improve, and trying to get those wins that give us confidence to keep going.”

The players play on big club teams across Europe, so they know what it’s supposed to feel like. Berhalter has been around the block too, as a player and manager, so he gets it.

“There can’t be more pressure on the outside than what we put on ourselves as a staff and as players,” Berhalter. “We want to perform and we want to do a great job. The external stuff, we can’t control. All we can control, all I can control, is how we prepare the team to play confident and have a good, strong performance.”

Now they have to deliver, plain and simple — even as they know a win alone might not be enough to advance from the group stage, thanks to last Thursday’s ugly loss to Panama. The Americans must win and hope for a better result than Panama gets against Bolivia on Monday (9 p.m., FS2, UniMás, ViX), or else they won’t advance from the group stage.

That would be a huge disappointment for these players, and the nation that’s hosting this tournament and the next World Cup.

» READ MORE: U.S. men’s soccer team’s Copa América on precipice of disaster after 2-1 loss to Panama

“We’re all extremely motivated, and want to put on a really strong performance, especially on home soil here in the U.S.,” Hershey-born captain Christian Pulisic said. “We want to show everyone that we’re here to compete with the best. And we want to continue in the tournament, because that’s just our competitive nature.”

It’s a moment for leadership, and Pulisic is in a leadership role as captain and the team’s biggest star. He’s the first to admit that he leads more by example than voice — Tyler Adams has that role, and has often had the captain’s armband in the past because of it — but Pulisic knows he has to be in front right now.

“I think it’s with the way I train every single day, it’s the way I conduct myself on and off the field, always trying to push guys along, get them out of their comfort zones, and just lead by example,” he said. “Everyone knows I’m not the most vocal guy ever, so it’s not going to be me screaming at everyone. Just giving my best for the team, and really buying into the team — that’s all I can do, and I trust that everyone’s going to follow suit.”

The U.S. is not the only team whose public heaps expectations on players who aren’t all proven yet. Just ask England, where it happens every summer. The endlessly hyped Three Lions needed a 95th-minute equalizer from superstar Jude Bellingham on Sunday to force extra time against upset-minded Slovakia, then Harry Kane won it when the next period started.

“I think it’s easy to do that, say we have players playing at such high levels across Europe,” Pulisic said. “We expect so much out of ourselves, so any of that outside noise, it doesn’t affect me personally. And I hope it doesn’t affect anyone else.”

» READ MORE: Christian Pulisic led the U.S. to victory over Bolivia in its Copa América opener

There was a plot twist Sunday when Uruguay manager Marcelo Bielsa was suspended by CONMEBOL, South American soccer’s governing body that runs the Copa, to punish the team for deliberately returning to the field late at halftime in its first two games. Uruguay’s federation was also fined $15,000 as a repeat offender.

CONMEBOL has suspended three other coaches to crack down on the same gamesmanship. Argentina’s Lionel Scaloni and Chile’s Ricardo Gareca missed their teams’ group stage finales on Saturday, and Venezuela’s Fernando Batista will miss Sunday’s game vs. Jamaica.

Suspending a manager for a game doesn’t have a ton of impact, because a manager doesn’t do too much on game day beyond picking the lineup and substitutions. Bielsa will have given all the instructions needed to his top assistants, Diego Reyes and Pablo Quiroga.

» READ MORE: Fox’s Stuart Holden puts USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter on the hot seat going into the Copa América

The biggest downside for the public — other than the sight of Bielsa sitting on a portable cooler during Monday’s game, as is his custom — is that he didn’t speak at Uruguay’s news conference on Sunday. Reyes did instead, joined by No. 2 goalkeeper Franco Israel.

“We believe it’s a very strong opponent with players that are currently performing in the world’s best leagues, and they’ve had a good performance for quite a long time now with this coach,” Reyes said. “As with any other team, they also have ups and downs. … The players have been playing together for a very long time, and all of that makes them an important opponent, no matter whether they are performing at their height, at their low, or an average level.”

» READ MORE: Is the USMNT playing in the Copa América a big deal? Christian Pulisic sure thinks so.