US to play CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal in Austin on Nov. 16
CHICAGO - The United States will play its first competitive match in Gregg Berhalter’s second term as coach in a CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal at Austin, Texas, on Nov. 16.
The U.S. Soccer Federation announced the site Friday. The second leg of the home-and-home, total-goals series will be on the road Nov. 19-21. The opponent will be determined after group play in September and October.
Mexico, Canada and Costa Rica also received byes to the quarterfinals and cannot be opponents.
Quarterfinal winners will qualify for next year’s Copa América, South America’s championship, and the losing quarterfinalists will compete in playoffs for two additional Copa América berths.
The U.S. beat Canada 2-0 in June to win its second straight Nations League title.
Berhalter was hired in December 2018 after the U.S. failed to qualify for that year’s World Cup. He led the Americans to the second round last year in Qatar before a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands.
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He was discussing the possibility of a new contract, but that talk stopped after the Reyna family notified the USSF of a three-decade-old domestic violence allegation involving Berhalter and the woman who later became his wife.
A law firm hired by the USSF said that while Berhalter’s conduct "likely constituted the misdemeanor crime of assault on a female," he did not improperly withhold information when he was hired. The USSF then rehired him to resume coaching in September.
He returns to the bench for exhibitions against Uzbekistan on Sept. 9 at St. Louis; Oman on Sept. 12 at St. Paul, Minnesota.; Germany on Oct. 14 at East Hartford, Connecticut.; and Ghana on Oct. 17 at Nashville, Tennessee.