The USMNT's greatest proponent of on-field 'intensity' has been here the whole time

Hidden in plain sight

Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter isn't a typical USMNT prospect. He doesn't carry the same European pedigree as his famous teammates, and his rise in Major League Soccer has been anything but typical. When he joined Vancouver before the start of the 2022 season, he arrived for the frankly miserable transfer fee of $50,000. Nothing about him screamed "future World Cup star."

And yet, as the years went by and Berhalter grew in both skill and maturity, he emerged as one of the most truly "intense" American players in the USMNT stable, and that's earned him a much-needed place in Pochettino's roster. He runs until he can't anymore and flies into every tackle like it's the last one he'll make.

In a recent match against the Portland Timbers, Berhalter showed off that intensity by flipping the game on its head deep into stoppage time. He sprinted the length of the field in the 94th minute to put in a crucial defensive tackle, then sprinted the length of it again to be on hand to score Vancouver's last-gasp winner.

Berhalter has been putting in these kinds of plays for years now, but he's only just beginning to get his flowers from the wider USMNT community. 

"I believe I’ve been doing everything for the last six, seven years. It hasn’t been just this year I’ve changed everything to make the team," Berhalter said. "I’ve been consistent, I’ve been working hard."

A new USMNT midfield model

While Berhalter is a skilled distributor—he led Vancouver in touches in the Portland game, making nearly thirty more than his closest competitor—he truly thrives as a midfield enforcer. When the USMNT needs someone to shut down an opponent's central build-up play, Berhalter is the man to do it. He was one of the team's best players in its 2-0 loss to Portugal largely because his efforts in the center of the park neutered Portugal's attack and forced the team to build out wide to break through. 

That "enforcer" model isn't needed all the time (one would hope that the USMNT would trust itself to play through the likes of, say, Australia) but it becomes vital against top opponents like Portugal. When the USMNT failed to break down the Netherlands in the Round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup, its inability to stop the team in the center of the field was a big part of why. Berhalter's unique set of skills—and, indeed, his intensity—could flip that script for the USMNT in 2026.

The Whitecaps return to MLS action on Saturday, April 11 against NYCFC. The USMNT will return to action on Sunday, May 31 against Senegal in Charlotte, NC. That USMNT fixture will feature the team's official World Cup roster, which is set to be announced on Tuesday, May 26.

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.