WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- US men's soccer head coach Gregg Berhalter said on Wednesday that there's a lot of excitement about all of the American players at big European clubs, but he has to be realistic about the team's World Cup future.
"It's great, it's exciting. When you think about having five guys on a Champions League matchday that you can watch and track, and now you have to flip back and forth. It's not just you watch one game every couple of weeks, now it's coming fast and furious. I'm really proud of the guys for what they've been doing," said Berhalter.
The US team, which failed to make the 2018 World Cup in Russia, is preparing for friendlies against Wales and Panama in the next two weeks. Berhalter called up 24 players, mostly based in Europe. The roster is spearheaded by the likes of Chelsea's Christian Pulisic, Barcelona's Sergino Dest, Juventus' Weston McKennie and Gio Reyna of Dortmund, who have started to make a name for themselves in European leagues.
"It's been fun, I think it's a great step for American soccer. I'm a firm believer in the measure of talent in any given country is based on how many players they have playing in the Champions League, so I think it's really important that we get those numbers up. And I think the two things that lead to success is having a strong domestic league and then having players playing in the Champions League and it's good to see that we have that," the coach said.
With so many Americans playing in the Champions League, Berhalter said he has to be realistic and apply a long-term perspective.
"Although the expectations are high, we know that's not realistic and we know it's about building. Our first objective is to qualify for the World Cup, and then the next objective is to play well at the World Cup and then we go from there," he said.
"We realize we do have a bit of time, qualifying for the 2022 World Cup doesn't start until next September. There is a window that we have, but we have to start somewhere and we're excited to get this group together and start working with them," Berhalter added.
The US team will play against Wales on November 12 in Swansea, Wales and then take on Panama on November 16 in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. Enditem