Gregg Berhalter's selections justified with United States on brink of World Cup berth

ORLANDO, Fla. — It is a manager's lot in life to be second-guessed. Decisions are analyzed to the smallest of details. Mistakes get highlighted. That's especially true of international managers, with a country's armchair coaches never holding back.

Credit is due, then, to U.S. men's national team manager Gregg Berhalter. Over the past week he had some tricky choices to make, especially ahead of the World Cup qualifier Sunday against Panama. The U.S. was coming off an exhausting 0-0 draw with Mexico in the 7,200-foot altitude of Estadio Azteca. How much could the U.S. manager rely on the players who played the bulk of the minutes in Mexico City? There was also the injury bug that forced the U.S. to do without Weston McKennie, Brenden Aaronson and Sergino Dest. The yellow card suspensions to DeAndre Yedlin and Tim Weah, as well as the positive COVID-19 test for Reggie Cannon, further limited Berhalter's options further.

Even given those challenges, Berhalter's personnel decisions on Sunday invited scrutiny. Was Paul Arriola really the best choice out wide ahead of Gio Reyna? What about Shaq Moore being an emergency call-up at right-back over the Bundesliga pedigree of Joe Scally? Then there was the decision to start Jesus Ferreira up top against Panama's hulking back line.

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All of them came through in massive ways, not only delivering on Berhalter's «next man up» mentality, but speaking to the team's depth. Arriola scored a gorgeous goal with a