B.J. Callaghan claims responsibility for USMNT Gold Cup exit
- USMNT were eliminated from the Gold Cup in penalties to Panama
- Callaghan takes complete responsibility for the loss
- Above all, the interim boss believes it was valuable experience for many of the players
The US men's national team won't get the chance to defend their 2021 Gold Cup triumph after a shock defeat against Panama in penalties sees them out of the Gold Cup.
Despite coming off a 120-minute game against Canada just three days prior, the USMNT were still expected to win against Panama and advance to the final. But they encountered the same problems against Los Canaleros, starting off slow before giving the ball away in threatening areas. In the end, goals from Jesus Ferreira and Ivan Anderson forced the patch into penalties.
Matt Turner and the USMNT couldn't keep up the heroics, handing interim manager B.J. Callaghan his first and last defeat at the helm.
"The first half is my fault. I didn't set the team up the way they should have been set up. We were able to make the adjustments at halftime and I was so proud of the group, the way they came out in the second half and the way they responded. So I don't have anything but positive things to say about how the group handled this match," Callaghan bluntly stated.
"We tried to remain true to our identity, we wanted to go out and press. Panama, they're a really well-coached team, they're really experienced, they've been together for a long time. So they were able to cause us challenges and in the wide areas, it was difficult for us to get to those long diagonals in the first half, and we expended a lot of energy ... I thought the guys executed that great, put in another great shift."
Even though the interim boss didn't have nearly the same group of players to work with when compared to the US group that won the Nations League last month, he still believes that the starting XI that was put out should've done the job.
"We're not a group that's going to make excuses," he asserted.
"These are all challenges, and each team has different challenges that they have to face, and we continually work and then we talk about how we’re going to respond to them. So for me, it's part of what happens when you are in the group stage and knockout games. You deal with a lot of different factors, and you have to learn how to deal with it, and we were able to get a lot of experience in doing it."
Before concluding the final press conference, Callaghan praised his side once more, highlighting the young players.
"Each player was given an opportunity to gain this experience, and I hope that they take it, they learn the lessons from it, and it catapults them back into putting in good performances with their club."