"When you don't get results early on, then the pressure mounts..."
"And when the pressure mounts, then you start to see a little bit of cracks - and then it's just how you handle it". No matter the country, managing a national team is an inherently high-pressure position. Combine the hopes and dreams of an entire nation with limited time to train and prepare with players -- and you get a high stakes position that is sink or swim to the max.
Enter Gregg Berhalter and Gerardo "Tata" Martino. Two coaches with vastly different resumes, and yet a lot of shared history in the short term. In fact, the story of these two coaches begins before their national team appointments, when each was coaching in Major League Soccer. One of those early chapters began with an upset win in the 2017 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs of Berhalter's Columbus Crew versus Martino's first year Atlanta United. The rivalry between the two has only escalated there, and now with the two coaches managing the United States and Mexico respectively, it has grown within the fiercest rivalry in all of North America.
Discover how these two managers got to this point and what makes them tick, from the players that know them and their teams the best.
"The Octagon" is a new series that explores the most unique stories around CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying, focusing it mostly on USA, Mexico, and Canada, and illustrating the aspects that make it unlike an soccer region in the world.
Footage Courtesy:
U.S. Soccer / Veritone
Pa...
By Major League Soccer
November 11, 2021
