The Gregg Berhalter era of American football begins with a victory and the echo of empty seats | Soccer

FOr his first game at the head of the US men's national team, Gregg Berhalter appointed Aaron Long captain in his third international appearance. The obvious choice, Michael Bradley, had more selections than the rest of the team.

If handing the armband to Long was an attempt to speed up the development of the defender, it also looked like a symbolic break with the past – even as Bradley showed up on the pitch taking the middle role when the United States turned away. Panama, 3- 0, during a friendly Sunday match in Glendale, Arizona, in the Phoenix suburbs.

"I told him that he will always be a leader when he is on the field thanks to his performances. The armband may be a mere authority, but you can carry out your actions, "said Berhalter. "You can not have 143 selections if you do not have real quality."

Bradley denied being disappointed. "There is a group of guys who now have to take on more responsibility and be encouraged and committed to putting more on their shoulders, thinking of more than just themselves and their own performance; think about the group, think about things more broadly, take more responsibility, "he said. "Aaron is definitely one of them."

Long, who is 26 but only making his New York Red Bull training start in 2017, has been named MLS Defenseman for the year in 2018. Bradley, 31, has made his debut in the national team in 2006 and his first captain in 2015.

In truth, it was more a sham war. Aside from the fact that Phoenix is ​​relatively close to the group's California base (and appearing as a propitious place for the US to rise from the ashes after failing to reach Russia), it made little sense to engage NFL stadium with a capacity of 63,400 for a friendly match without appetite in January, when the crowds are often lean.

So, on Sunday, with only 9,040 viewers, the vast majority of the 4.7 million residents of the Phoenix area chose not to spend $ 40 or more to see a team of MLS players in one place not having a franchise.

Some fans may have preferred the WWE Royal Rumble stories and stars in downtown Phoenix, which attracted a much larger crowd at the same time. The only sound that sounded at State Farm Stadium was the sound produced by a boosted sound system when the noise resounded on empty seats.

It is not easy to launch a new era with the optimistic atmosphere required when the saturnine vision of an almost vacant arena evokes the apathy caused by past disappointments. Neither is the opponent likely to attract fans to the box office: a Panamanian team (coached by Gary Stempel, former Millwall community officer) has also accumulated inexperienced players from the national league and many weaker than the outfit that was destroyed during the group stage at the World Cup last year.

Of course, the US team played mainly in front of a Berhalter crowd was removed from the Columbus Crew last December, 14 months after the shocking defeat against Trinidad and Tobago on the last night of the World Cup qualifiers of Concacaf that cost a place in the tournament.

The former defender, aged 45, stood on the sidelines, in dark clothes, stubble on the chin; sometimes stoical, sometimes making urgent and plaintive gestures. For him, the drama is in the details.

"When I addressed the group after the match, I said that it was a good foundation. It gave us enough content to work, "he said. "Some of the movements we worked with on the wings were very complicated movements. Three players are interchanged in order to disorganize the defense and to stand behind the lines. You could see it, sometimes we were a bit shy with that and then there were other times when it happened and it was really nice. "

Seven players won their first selections, two as substitutes. Two players scored: the very active midfielder Djordje Mihailovic was shot in the 40th minute before a tap-in in the 89th minute for substitute striker Christian Ramirez. The rear striker, Nick Lima – another beginner – was aggressive in winning the ball and precision to cross it, allowing Zimmerman to score for the lead in the 80th minute. Possession controlled by the United States and other than the strange unfortunate pbad and the irregular arrival of Gyasi Zardes had little effect.

An organization that once had a whimsical vision of competing with the best teams on the planet after the promise of the 2014 World Cup had to set aside its global ambitions for now and prove that it could dominate its region at the time. Gold Cup this summer. On the immediate horizon, episode 2 of the Berhalter show, a friendly match against Costa Rica on Saturday in San Jose California.

It's hard to imagine that more than a handful of Sunday's players will be taking part in the big events. In this perspective, the victory of Tyler Adams, the 19-year-old midfielder, was quite significant for this victory. She seemed badured during her Bundesliga debut for Leipzig earlier in the day. The competition, perhaps, for Bradley, after a day in which he stressed that he still had a lot to offer but he also foresaw his future obsolescence.