On Sunday afternoon, members of the U.S. men’s national team felt their phones buzz. One by one, their screens lit up with a text from Gregg Berhalter, all with the same message.
“Hey, are you available to talk?”
As everyone knows, there are few scarier messages from a boss than that. When it comes from your national team coach just days before a World Cup roster is announced, it can cause your heart to stop entirely.
For 26 of the players that received that text, what ensued was a dream come true. That text was followed by a video call with Berhalter that confirmed they’d be going to the World Cup. Smiles, laughs, tears of joy all in equal measure.
But, for others, the news devastated. The nature of the squad-trimming system forced Berhalter to crush the dreams of some players who had been a part of the program’s difficult rebuild throughout the last four years.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll find out if Berhalter made the right decisions.
For now, here’s a look at the biggest winners and losers from Wednesday’s roster announcement.