Sebastian Berhalter had the burden of being a coach’s kid, but he earned his USMNT World Cup ticket

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — Four years ago, Sebastian Berhalter was a fan in the stands at the last World Cup, watching his father, Gregg, coach the U.S. men’s team.

Though the son had been a pro for two years by then, barely anyone would have thought he’d be on the next American squad to make soccer’s biggest stage.

In fact, the idea wasn’t in most outsiders’ minds until last summer. That’s when Berhalter earned his first of what’s now 11 senior national team caps, from the Gold Cup through five of the eight friendlies last fall.

But one thing was known all along: He was a coach’s kid. The stigma that comes with that is hard to erase, as Michael Bradley had to show for years in his national team prime.

Berhalter took it on the chin, using the criticism as motivation. He also knew back then that he wasn’t good enough for the national team.

“I know if I got a call from my dad, I would have to earn it double as any other player,” he said. “And whatever anyone wanted to say, it didn’t matter to me, because I know the type of person he is, and he would never just call me in just to call me in. Yeah, I had to earn it, and I didn’t deserve it at any point yet.”

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When Mauricio Pochettino settled in as Gregg Berhalter’s successor, the younger Berhalter was succeeding with the Vancouver Whitecaps. So when the national team call did come, it was from the outsider who was hired to bring a different view.

Now 25, Berhalter contributed a goal and three assists in his games, with hustle in central midfield and a knack for set pieces. As his stature grew — metaphorically for a 5-foot-9 player — it became increasingly clear that he had a real shot at making the World Cup team. Now he’s there.

“It is pretty crazy,” Berhalter said. “I think it’s something that you have to believe first before other people do, and that’s what I’ve been trying to my whole life. And you believe, but then you also have to put in the work, and I think that’s the biggest thing that I’ve tried to do: just work as hard as I can to try to get myself in positions like this.”

He admitted to being especially happy to team up with Tyler Adams in the midfield, saying the former captain has “been my role model my whole life, almost — he’s been my idol.”

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That includes the leadership that made Adams the 2022 team’s captain.

“I could see how much it meant to him, and how much he cares about his country,” Berhalter said. “Having the chance to play next to him, even in training, he’s someone that I still pinch [myself] — even just hanging at lunch, I’m just like, ‘Damn, like I’m sitting next to Tyler Adams right now.’”

But for as far as he has come, he has not forgotten where he was.

“I went to my first U-16 national camp, the only national camp I went to as a kid,” he said. “The coach, at the end, told me I wasn’t good enough. And I used his name for probably four years, every time in the basement, just kicking the ball against the wall, that I’m going to prove this guy wrong, and I’m going to prove everyone wrong.”

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Medford’s Brenden Aaronson was excused from camp Friday for an unusual reason: so he could go home to get married.

Aaronson and his longtime fiancée, Milana D’Ambra — who played at Temple and is from her own soccer family, as a daughter of former Philadelphia Kixx star and St. Joseph’s men’s soccer coach Don D’Ambra — set the date two years ago. And with the national team’s blessing, they got to keep it.

“I think a lot of us have been through something of that magnitude,” fellow midfielder Cristian Roldan said. “We’re a family, and we want to make sure that everybody gets their moment together. So for us, it’s not a distraction at all.”

A U.S. Soccer spokesperson said Aaronson would be back for Saturday’s practice, the last before Sunday’s game vs. Senegal in Charlotte, N.C. (3:30 p.m., TNT, Telemundo 62). And Roldan said his teammate “had asked way ahead of time — and he was a responsible young adult to be able to do so. So credit to him.”

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That drew a few laughs from the media, with Roldan being 30 years old and Aaronson 25.

“The coaching staff was on board with it,” Roldan continued. “We’re all trying to be involved and have a good time with it.”

The team hoped to watch the ceremony with an assist from Gio Reyna’s wife, Chloe, who was to be in attendance. If allowed, she was going to stream it over FaceTime on her phone.

Aaronson’s longtime friend and former Union teammate Mark McKenzie recalled his own frenetic wedding amid the 2024 Copa América.

“It’s not the easiest thing, but you make it happen,” McKenzie said. “It’s a special moment, and I think everyone is understanding of that and excited for him. And, yeah, when he gets back, we’ll be sure to break him in a little bit and welcome him back with open arms.”

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He couldn’t help a little ribbing, too.

“I’ve known ‘B’ since we were, what, 10 years old? 11 years old?” McKenzie said. “To see him get married now — he still hasn’t grown any facial hair.”

Even for Aaronson’s longtime friends, the former kid is all grown up.

The World Cup in Philly

Nine nations will compete in five group stage matches this summer, plus two more in a knockout game on July 4. Here’s what you need to know about those countries — and what those fans need to know about Philly. Click here for more.